The candles flickered in the side hall of the Beiyao Sect.
Feng Qing stood on the steps, her phoenix eyes cold and sharp as she glared fiercely at the group of pageboys kneeling on the floor below. “Are you still refusing to confess? Who exactly took the Saintess away?! Does she have a lover?!”
The pageboys scattered across the floor trembled, prostrating themselves as they repeatedly shook their heads. “We do not know, Sect Master. We truly do not know.”
“You do not know?!”
Feng Qing's anger flared. “You attend to the Saintess day and night! If you do not know, who would?!”
Her heavy pressure bore down on them. The pageboys grimaced in pain and pressed themselves even lower against the floor, shaking uncontrollably.
Looking at the silent, trembling group, Feng Qing grew even more infuriated. She barked, “List every single man who has interacted with the Saintess over the past few days! If you miss even one, I will show no mercy!”
The pageboys exchanged terrified glances, tears streaming down their faces as they shook their heads and wept. “Only women have entered and left the Saintess's courtyard recently. We have never seen any strange men visit.”
This response completely enraged Feng Qing. She suddenly snatched a jade longbow from the weapon rack, drew the string, and notched an arrow. Pointing it directly at the pageboys kneeling in the front row, she barked, “Think very carefully before you answer again!”
The pageboys huddled together in sheer terror, their quiet whimpers filling the hall.
On the high platform, Ye Chongguang sat calmly, dressed in elegant, simple brocade robes, his expression completely indifferent.
He watched for a long moment before finally speaking up to stop her. “Sect Master Feng, please stay your hand. It seems Qingqiu decided to escape the wedding of her own accord. Making things difficult for them is pointless.”
Feng Qing held the lives of these pageboys in her hands, so she naturally knew they were telling the truth.
However, with Chen Qingqiu having fled her own wedding, Feng Qing had to put on this show for Ye Chongguang to save his face.
Hearing his words, she took the opportunity to slowly lower her bow. Turning to Ye Chongguang, she said, “I know Qingqiu's temperament all too well. She must have been misled by some wicked person. Rest assured, Pavilion Master Ye, I have already dispatched my disciples to search in all directions. I will certainly give you an explanation...”
Ye Chongguang raised a hand to interrupt her. “Chang'an pursued them just now and saw them flee into the territory of Black Cloud Mountain.”
Feng Qing froze for a moment, but a look of delight quickly washed over her face, and her lips curled upward. “Black Cloud Mountain? Then haven't they walked straight into a trap?”
“Indeed.”
Ye Chongguang nodded slightly. “It is inconvenient for you and me to show our faces in Black Cloud Mountain. I have already informed Chang'an of the situation and told him to wait in ambush there. Once he finds Qingqiu and her accomplice, he is to bring them back immediately to proceed with the wedding.”
Feng Qing hesitated for a moment before asking uncertainty, “Did you not keep the truth from Chang'an earlier because of Wen Tang? If he enters Black Cloud Mountain this time, won't he cross paths with her? Could they... could they rekindle their old flame?”
“They won't.”
A small doll wrapped in red strings materialized in Ye Chongguang's hand. “Wen Tang is no longer the Wen Tang of the past. Having been rejected by her several times, Chang'an already hates her to the bone. He will surely know how to conduct himself.”
Feng Qing still felt uneasy. “But didn't Wen Tang lose control and kill Elder Huaisang before...?”
Ye Chongguang interrupted her again. “It cannot be considered losing control. Wen Tang has exceptionally strong spiritual power and high cultivation. We have tried every method, yet we still cannot completely control her.”
“Back then, Huaisang forcibly stripped a portion of her emotions into this object, subjecting her to bone-corroding pain to control her. She must have harbored deep resentment and wanted to kill him for a long time.”
“Now that Huaisang is dead and this object is in my hands, as long as we do not provoke her, nothing will go wrong.”
With that, he gently stroked the head of the doll with his thumb and added meaningfully, “To achieve great things, one must take risks. The Nine Saints Hall has sat in that position for far too long. Sect Master Feng, it is time for you and me to take a turn up there.”
...
They had fallen incredibly fast. Song Yao had landed on the bottom, acting as a cushion for Chen Qingqiu, and she grimaced in agonizing pain.
Regaining her senses, Chen Qingqiu scrambled to her feet in a panic. Looking down, she saw that the figure wrapped in the cloak was already semi-conscious, yet still managed to comfort her: “I'm fine, I'm fine... I won't die.”
But she looked anything but fine.
Chen Qingqiu hurriedly pulled some medicinal pills from her spatial pouch and fed them into Song Yao's mouth, her voice tinged with a sob. “Y-You shouldn't have helped me to this extent.”
Song Yao herself was actually feeling a bit of regret.
She had originally thought her only job was to take the unconscious Chen Qingqiu to some random place, hide her for a night, and then her job would be successfully done once she woke up.
Who could have known so many things would go wrong in a row?
First, she had been caught and exposed by Zhu Zhao, and then Chen Qingqiu had been spotted by Ye Chang'an.
The two of them now really looked like they were eloping together.
She wanted to speak, but the moment she opened her mouth, she spat out a mouthful of blood.
Chen Qingqiu's soul nearly left her body in fright. Tears instantly spilled over as she rummaged through her spatial pouch again, pulling out a few more pills. “Eat... eat these!”
Song Yao opened her mouth and swallowed the pills along with the blood. She choked so hard her eyes rolled back, and it took her quite a while to recover before she managed a smile. “Alright, I'm really fine. For a cultivator, falling a couple of times is nothing.”
Chen Qingqiu stammered, “But...”
Song Yao reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek. “No more buts. Take off your clothes. This is the Mist Realm, the territory of Black Cloud Mountain, where all external signals are blocked. Your master won't be able to locate your exact position through the parasite inside you, but there's an eighty percent chance the people of Black Cloud Mountain will search this place. We can't stay here long.”
Her gesture of wiping the tears was incredibly natural and practiced. Chen Qingqiu froze for a moment, then heard her continue, “By the way, can you neutralize the parasite inside you on your own?”
Snapping out of her daze, Chen Qingqiu nodded. “It's almost done. I can completely resolve it in half an hour.”
Song Yao: “Good. Let's find a safer spot first so you can deal with the parasite, and then we'll figure out a way to get out.”
Chen Qingqiu immediately stripped off her bright red wedding robes, tossing them along with the hairpins on her head into the bushes. She said anxiously, “I heard that the Mist Realm shifts constantly, making it very easy to get lost. However, the disciples of Black Cloud Mountain can come and go as they please. If we accidentally run into them...”
Song Yao held out her hand to her. “Follow me. I know the way.”
Chen Qingqiu: “...”
She placed her hand in Song Yao's. Where their hands met felt cool and soft.
It was a very slender and small hand.
The person leading her forward was also quite small and slender, wrapped tightly in a cloak, with messy hair swaying slightly as they walked.
She swallowed hard and suddenly asked, “How do you know the way?”
Navigating the Mist Realm required complete concentration, and Song Yao was feeling a bit tired, so she casually replied, “No reason. I'm just amazing.”
Chen Qingqiu was silent for a moment before suddenly saying, “Your Third Senior Sister also liked to say that.”
Song Yao: “...”
She nearly tripped over her own feet. Letting out a slightly awkward laugh, she said, “Really? What a coincidence.”
Chen Qingqiu: “Your Third Senior Sister also liked to laugh like that.”
Song Yao: “...”
She had a very bad feeling. Deciding to pretend she hadn't heard, she kept walking forward.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, they wound their way into an extremely hidden cave, where the already dark sky vanished into complete pitch-blackness.
In the darkness where she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face, Chen Qingqiu's breath drew closer as she asked, “Are you Song Yao?”
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