Chapter 323: The villain is marked!
The sky was adorned with twinkling stars, and the silver-white moonlight bathed the mountains and forests.
The Heavenly Execution Court’s Secretary, clad in a golden robe, meticulously searched the forests outside the eastern city like a sweeping carpet. The glimmer of his sword, seen from afar, resembled fireflies dancing amidst the mountains, circling around.
“Sir, no sign of her to the east.”
“We’ve been searching for three hours. If we can’t find her, she’s likely escaped far away. There must be some kind of escape technique or spiritual treasure involved. Order the search to cease and reinforce the night watch at the east gate. Keep a sharp lookout in the coming days.”
“Yes…”
…
The voice of the cultivator was nearby. Gu Mingxin, leaning against an unfamiliar tree, listened intently. Finally, she relaxed slightly upon hearing those words.
Floating cross-legged above her head, she used her spiritual awareness to keep watch for Xue. Seeing the nearby Heavenly Execution Court disciples withdraw, she descended from the sky.
“Ming Xin, they’re gone.”
“Okay.”
Gu Mingxin nodded faintly, gritted her teeth, and raised her hand to pull open her collar.
The silver-white moonlight illuminated her almost deathly pale chest, resembling two softer full moons. Above these moons was a cross-shaped sword wound that still oozed blood. She recalled the two individuals she had fought with earlier.
The silver-haired girl was formidable, but perhaps due to her high expectations, Gu Mingxin wasn’t surprised.
After all, being of the Holy Emperor lineage and possessing the Heavenly Scroll, it would be strange if they were easily dealt with.
However, the other individual who was collaborating with her at that time. The brunette with long brown and black hair and vibrant orange eyes…
Gu Ming pondered for a moment, then uttered a figure,
“Seventy percent.”
Although just one word, Xue immediately grasped her meaning.
Gu Mingxin was referring to her odds of triumphing in a one-on-one battle with the orange-eyed woman without relying on Xue.
Xue felt somewhat helpless and reassured her,
“Ming Xin, you have my support, but that girl doesn’t have that advantage. If we encounter her again, I’ll have Ah Mang deal with her. No need to dwell on it too much.”
Gu Mingxin bit her lip slightly, displaying a hint of reluctance. She recalled the face of Liang Xiao Liu in her mind and gradually eased her tension.
If solely based on strength, Liang Xiao Liu was definitely outmatched, but…
“That’s impressive.”
“Who? The handsome young man!”
“Yes, he anticipates my every move, as if I can’t escape his grasp no matter how hard I try.” Gu Mingxin’s eyes narrowed slowly as she covered her shoulders and lowered her head. “It’s like having a mentor… no matter what I do, I can’t break free. It’s such a peculiar feeling.”
Xue rolled her eyes in exasperation, sighed, and remarked,
“Ming Xin, I think his and that orange-eyed girl’s sword techniques resemble those of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect, and their spiritual swords probably have extraordinary origins as well.”
“Moon Shadow Sword Sect!”
“Yeah, and it seems like she’s in cahoots with the girl from the Heavenly Scroll. That silver-haired girl is your archenemy, and now that she has such a formidable ally, the situation isn’t looking good.”
At this point, Xue’s expression softened,
“Ming Xin, you’ve always been a loner. When you return to the Eastern Domain, make a few trusted friends.”
Upon hearing the words “return to the Eastern Domain,” Gu Mingxin pursed her lips, realizing she had botched the task her master assigned to her.
And not just botched, but failed before even starting.
The “Demon Heart” her master had prepared was gone, and she was seriously injured herself. It seemed she wouldn’t be able to wield a sword for the next few months.
“I’ll probably get an earful when I return, but then again…”
At this, Gu Mingxin’s gaze hardened, and Xue immediately understood her sentiment, nodding in agreement,
“Yeah, there’s definitely a mole in the Heavenly Demon Sect. You and Xu Mo didn’t attract much attention on the road. Just as you arrived in Tainan City, you were ambushed, and it was clearly aimed at you. The Heavenly Demon Sect wouldn’t have spies from the immortal families. That’s the real issue.”
“Phew… at least it’s not a complete failure. Let’s have Master reorganize the Heavenly Demon Sect when we return.”
Gu Mingxin breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the nearby spirit sword as a crutch, and stood up, preparing to find a safer place to heal under the cover of night.
But just then, from behind, came two quacks,
“A total disaster!! A total disaster!!”
Gu Mingxin trembled at the sound, thinking it might be disciples from the Heavenly Execution Court coming for them. She turned her head cautiously towards the noise source, only to see that the speaker was a golden parrot.
“This is…”
“It looks like a golden-feathered parrot. It should be a spiritual pet raised by some cultivator.”
“Does that mean there’s someone nearby?”
“No, my spiritual consciousness has been watching. There is absolutely no cultivator within ten miles…”
Jingle Bell–
The crisp ringtone interrupted Xue’s speech abruptly.
In an instant, both Xue and Gu Mingxin turned their heads toward the bell sound, only to see a young girl with yin and yang eyes behind a tree not far from them, picking at the trunk and peering around.
The peculiar gaze of those eyes made Xue feel uneasy. It obviously didn’t sense anyone nearby. Where did this girl come from?
And those strange eyes…
“Ming Xin… This person has eluded my consciousness.”
In the night, deep in the mountains and forests, a young girl stood behind a tree, watching silently without speaking or blinking…
A chill ran down Gu Mingxin’s spine. She had encountered many strange things in the Eastern Domain. She had heard that some souls lingered long after death, appearing under the moonlight and wandering around.
“A ghost!”
Jingle Bell—
Halfway through her sentence, Gu Mingxin blinked unconsciously. But in that blink of an eye, the little girl, about twenty paces away, suddenly appeared before her, her face almost touching Gu Mingxin’s. Those huge yin and yang eyes seemed to be pulling her in, causing her to scream uncontrollably and sit on the ground.
“Ah!!!”
However, when she lifted her head to look at the little girl, she had already vanished.
“Ming Xin, on your hands…”
“Um!”
Gu Mingxin paused, then looked down at her left hand, only to find an unexpected jade bell there, engraved with the pattern of “Nine Dragons” on top.
“A bell! Did that girl give it to me just now?”
“…”
Xue looked at the bell in her hand, then quickly pulled out a thick book from behind her. She flipped through it rapidly but couldn’t identify the bell even after searching for a while.
“The soul-summoning bell… the star-returning bell… I can’t tell what kind of bell it is, Ming Xin, I suggest you throw it away.”
Gu Mingxin scanned the surroundings silently, noticing that the parrot was missing. Her gaze finally returned to the bell on her left hand.
To be honest, she wanted to throw it away, but her intuition warned her that doing so now might cause problems.
“I’ll throw it away when we return to the Eastern Domain. If I dispose of it here, we might encounter some disaster. That little girl was too strange. Perhaps there’s some ‘strange thing’ buried here.”
“Um…”
Gu Mingxin took a deep breath, using the spirit sword as a makeshift cane, hobbling into the forest’s depths. Before long, her figure disappeared into the shadows of the trees, hidden from view. She didn’t know, and Xue didn’t know either.
Meanwhile, in the direction of the full moon above them, the strange little girl who had given them a bell was suspended in the air, her fairy garments fluttering in the breeze.
Si Xuanji watched Gu Mingxin disappear into the forest and gazed at the moon in the sky. The full moon reflected in her mismatched yin and yang eyes, with her left eye reflecting a silver moon and her right eye a black moon.
“Weird thing!! Weird thing!!” chirped the parrot, perched on Si Xuanji’s shoulder, looking at her.
Si Xuanji’s eyes turned towards the parrot, her gaze slightly chilly. “Um!”
The parrot paused, then quickly turned its head in the direction Gu Mingxin had left, exclaiming, “She said it! She said it!”
“…Forget it,” Si Xuanji shook her head, then looked back toward Tainan City, asking, “The parrot, do you think that silly girl can live up to her expectations?”
“So angry!! So angry!!” The parrot squawked in response.
Si Xuanji sighed at the sound. “I guess so, hey——”
And thus, the night continued its mysterious dance, enveloping them in secrets untold.
