Disperse the Crowd

Su Bailian's face had also turned pale with fear as she shrank tightly behind the crowd.

To her left and right, all she could see were scenes of eerie, deathly silence.

No way... This is my first time here. Don’t mess with me.

Just as the thought crossed her mind—

[Got another job for you.]

A familiar voice abruptly echoed in Su Bailian’s head.

This is... Qin Luo?!

Her heart leaped with joy, instantly feeling warm and reassured.

Su Bailian: [Brother-in-law~~~]

Su Muwan: [Hey, can you tone down that sickly sweet voice of yours?]

Ugh...

Su Bailian’s expression froze. Why was Su Muwan, that domineering woman, also here?

She immediately replied meekly in her mind: [Oh... Sister Su is here too...]

Meanwhile, on Qin Luo’s side.

Su Muwan rolled her eyes. "What do you mean, 'you too'? Shouldn’t I be here?"

[Of course not!! It’s just... Lianlian hasn’t heard Sister Su’s voice in so long, I missed it~]

"Cut the nonsense. Speak properly."

[Cough!!]

Su Bailian choked, her eyelid twitching uncontrollably.

Clenching her fists, she gritted her teeth and replied in her mind.

[So... What do you need?]

"Obviously something, or else why would we call you?"

Hiss!!!

Su Muwan!

You little witch!

Only when you need something do you think of me! Otherwise, it’s just insults!

I—I—!! I’m so mad!

Su Bailian could feel her blood pressure rising again.

But it didn’t matter—she couldn’t fight back anyway.

Huff... Huff...

After taking a deep breath, she forced out a question through her twitching eyelid.

[So... What do you newlyweds want from me?]

Newlyweds?

Su Muwan blinked, then glanced at Qin Luo.

The more she looked...

Heh, why did she suddenly feel a strange sense of embarrassment?

Qin Luo cleared his throat. "It’s simple..."

A moment later.

Su Bailian finally understood.

Wait, so Qin Luo and Su Muwan are here too?

No, more like—

Why are they everywhere?

But whatever...

Snapping back to reality, Su Bailian realized Qin Luo’s request was straightforward.

Namely...

She tightened her grip on Boqi, her eyes sharpening.

Framing someone!

For Su Bailian, this was child’s play.

But she had one small condition of her own.

With that in mind, she glanced at Chu Yu, who was standing ahead lost in thought, and couldn’t help but smirk.

That’s right.

She had to drag this little snake into it too.

Ahhh~

Now that she knew this whole mess was orchestrated by that tyrannical duo,

Su Bailian felt right at home.

Wang Yan, noticing Su Bailian’s silence, assumed she was too scared and reassured her, "Don’t worry, Lian. If things go south, your senior sister and I will get you out immediately."

Su Bailian snapped out of her thoughts, pursed her lips, and nodded gratefully. "Mm!"

Stupid fool, don’t talk to me out of nowhere.

Can’t you see I’m thinking?

Just then—

"Heh."

Chu Yu turned her head and scoffed coldly. "If you’re scared, just leave now."

Her icy gaze locked onto Su Bailian. "I have no obligation to protect you."

Her tone dripped with frosty disdain.

"Eep—!"

Su Bailian’s face paled, and she cowered behind Wang Yan. "S-Senior Sister... I’m sorry..."

Wang Yan frowned. Honestly, he’d noticed over the past few days—

Chu Yu seemed to harbor an inexplicable hostility toward Su Bailian.

But out of respect for their past camaraderie, he could only remind her gently. "Yu, Bailian is new to cultivation. As her senior sister, cut her some slack."

Cut her some slack?

The moment those words hit, Chu Yu’s heart wrenched violently.

Her breath seemed to freeze.

Once upon a time...

She too had been the one shielded by her senior brother, hearing those very words directed at others.

But now?

Her dark eyes bore into Su Bailian, who was hiding behind Wang Yan with pitiful tears.

All of this... was because of this little viper!

Fine.

This time, she wouldn’t lose her temper like in her past life.

Steeling herself, she replied calmly, "Fine."

Only then did Wang Yan’s expression soften slightly.

Su Bailian, however, pouted inwardly.

Boring. She didn’t even scold me. This little snake’s gotten trickier.

But judging by the timing... Qin Luo’s plan should start soon, right?

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind—

Buzz—!

Thick, ink-like mist surged from all directions without warning.

Everyone’s pupils constricted.

"Watch out!! Danger!"

"Damn it! What the hell is this fog?!"

The mist seemed sentient—any attempt to disperse it with spiritual energy only made it recoil more violently.

The ground trembled, thunder roared across the sky, and the terrain itself seemed to warp.

"Chu Yu! Bailian!!"

Wang Yan’s horrified shout was instantly swallowed by the fog, turning muffled and distant.

Desperate, he reached out to grab those beside him—but his fingers closed around nothing but damp, clinging mist.

In the blink of an eye, the fog had isolated everyone from each other.

Elsewhere—

Squelch!!

After slicing through a shadowy wraith lunging at him,

Ye Qun leaned against a tree trunk, panting heavily.

Pulling off his hood, his expression darkened. "Master... this isn’t right..."

"Why did the sky suddenly go dark?"

"And what are these creatures?"

As he spoke, he tightened his grip on the rare herbs he’d gathered.

He’d come here expecting bountiful rewards.

But before he could even begin his search, the entire place had turned sinister.

Even the voice in his head—his master—was baffled for the first time.

[This... How did this happen...]

[Why has the Taigu Xuan Sect become like this...]

[Ye Qun... Something’s wrong. We need to leave now!]

The urgency in the voice was palpable.

Though reluctant, Ye Qun knew better than to disobey.

Just as he turned to leave—

The thick black mist erupted around him.

His pupils shrank to pinpricks.

"No—!!"

Before he could finish, his consciousness vanished.

......

Time passed indeterminately.

When Ye Qun finally stirred, a sliver of light pierced his vision.

Dazed, he opened his eyes to find himself in a space shared by several others.

Two wore the robes of the Taichu Holy Land, three bore the Qingyan Sect’s insignia, and one was masked.

All of them looked disheveled—hair disarrayed, robes damp with condensed mist.

Ye Qun shook his still-groggy head, warily studying the group.

Chu Yu broke the silence first, her cool voice laced with exhaustion. "Seems we’re all trapped in this cursed place. That black fog is unnatural—spiritual energy is useless against it."

As she spoke, she wiped her sword, flicking off lingering droplets.

Su Bailian, curled in a corner, added timidly, "Sister Chu is right... Back in the fog, Lianlian thought she was done for... Thank goodness everyone’s here..."

Her voice trailed off as she peeked at their reactions from the corner of her eye.

The three sect disciples exchanged glances. The eldest among them clasped his hands and said, "We are from the Qingyan Sect. We came to the ruins of the Taigu Xuan Sect hoping to try our luck, but we never expected to encounter such a turn of events."

"Brother, and you ladies, do you have any ideas on how to escape now?"

His words hung in the air, met with silence.

The elder disciple looked slightly awkward.

Chu Yu scanned the group, her gaze lingering when it landed on Ye Qun.

Ye Qun...

To think she’d cross paths with him in this lifetime.

How interesting.

And then...

She glanced at Su Bailian, who was hiding in a corner.

An idea rose in her mind.

The ruins had transformed in a way she hadn’t anticipated.

Since everyone had been separated by that strange mist...

Could this be the perfect opportunity to deal with that wretched woman?

....

....

"Crunch crunch crunch~~!"

Inside the Hall of Inheritance.

Su Muwan munched on potato chips, blinking as she watched the projections floating in the air before her.

She said, "Qin Luo, why did you separate so many people?"

Qin Luo, while manipulating the mist and altering the terrain, replied calmly, "To give the debut of [Shadow] the perfect stage."

"Is that some kind of anime line?"

"........"

"Miss."

"Hmm?"

"I can’t beat you in a fight, but I really want to smack your head."

"???"