Chapter 35
“You vicious woman! You took my daughter’s life!” an aged, venomous voice shouted from above.
The end of the bloodred whip in his hand had darkened further, clearly stained with a great deal of Yu Tai’s blood.
He twisted his wrist to strike again, but someone stopped him this time.
“Mo Zhen, how dare you!” Another, somewhat familiar voice came from the sky.
Yu Tai recognized Jiang Wenyi, the current sect leader of the Qingshan Sword Sect.
“You attacked and injured a disciple of my sect without evidence. Mo Zhen, are you challenging the Qingshan Sword Sect?”
Once word spread that something had gone wrong inside Bishui Secret Realm, most sects sent people to investigate.
Jiang Wenyi, the sect leader of the Qingshan Sword Sect, had even come personally. His only biological son was inside, prompting the other sects to send their own important figures to wait as well.
The secret realm was collapsing. No one knew how many outstanding disciples would be lost.
The very thought made their hearts bleed.
After exchanging greetings, the atmosphere had been grave but relatively peaceful-until Mo Zhen, sect leader of the Chengtian Sect, arrived in a fury, radiating killing intent and demanding an explanation from the Qingshan Sword Sect.
Yu Tai was the first to emerge. Other battered disciples followed one after another.
The Qingshan Sword Sect disciples were especially bewildered when they saw Yu Tai lying on the ground covered in blood, surrounded by powerful experts from numerous sects. They had no idea what had happened.
“Junior Sister! Are you all right?”
Senior Sister Li rushed over and carefully lifted Yu Tai into her arms. The lingering force of Mo Zhen’s whip still hung over her. The pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator made her tremble in fear, but the sight of her own sect leader seemed to give her an anchor.
Though her hands still shook, her movements were no longer frantic.
Yu Tai lay with her eyes closed, seemingly unconscious. In reality, her mind was perfectly clear, and she was speaking with the System.
[Mo Zhen? The sect leader of the Chengtian Sect?]
The System answered, [You only turned Mo Xiaowei into an idiot. You didn’t kill her. Why would Mo Zhen come after you?!]
Yu Tai did not understand either. Even if Mo Xiaowei died later, it had nothing to do with Yu Tai, who had already left. Why was Mo Zhen so certain she had killed Mo Xiaowei?
Seeing Yu Tai covered in blood, the System felt distressed. [You could have dodged that strike. Why did you insist on taking it?]
Yu Tai answered flippantly, [I’m a delicate female cultivator who only recently reached Foundation Establishment. How could I dodge a surprise attack from a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator?]
[Everyone inside the secret realm was at roughly the same level, so I could fool them. But Jiang Wenyi and several powerful cultivators from other sects are here now. How could I dare play any tricks?]
Ordinarily, Mo Zhen would never have lightly provoked Jiang Wenyi, who had reached Spirit Transformation. But he had just lost his beloved daughter and several disciples, and his emotions were at their most violent.
Once a person was pushed far enough, the words *think before acting* ceased to matter.
Yet Jiang Wenyi found Mo Zhen strange. He had been guarding against the man from the beginning, but Mo Zhen had still managed to strike Yu Tai twice under the eyes of a Spirit Transformation cultivator.
Jiang Wenyi’s gaze settled on the bloodred, almost uncanny whip in Mo Zhen’s hand. He was certain this was the first time he had seen Mo Zhen wield that weapon.
Not everyone could withstand the pressure radiating from the confrontation between two sect leaders.
Some disciples barely escaped the secret realm alive, only to cough up blood and faint the instant they emerged beneath the terrifying pressure.
Only the Qingshan Sword Sect disciples clenched their teeth and endured, surrounding Yu Tai.
The situation improved only after Jiang Wenyi’s familiar figure appeared among them.
Covered in wounds, Jiang Yibai emerged from the secret realm. The first thing he saw was not his father in the sky, who had sensed his presence and immediately looked toward him.
It was the blood-soaked young woman in Li Shijie’s arms.
“Junior Sister!”
Jiang Yibai rushed over. His eyes were bloodshot as he looked at Yu Tai and asked hoarsely, “Who did this?”
“This old man did.”
The voice from above made Jiang Yibai look up.
He clearly recognized Mo Zhen. At the sight of him, Jiang Yibai froze before asking in a trembling voice, “My Junior Sister is only a defenseless young woman. May I ask why the sect leader of the Chengtian Sect injured her?”
The fury he was forcibly suppressing was unmistakable.
Mo Zhen sneered. “She killed my only daughter. If she doesn’t deserve to die, who does?!”
Jiang Yibai immediately retorted, “Impossible! My Junior Sister has never even met your daughter. Why would she kill her?”
Jiang Wenyi looked at his son, whose heart and mind had been completely captured by Yu Tai, and added, “Every cultivator who enters Bishui Secret Realm knows that fighting and competition are permitted inside. Even if Yu Tai truly killed your daughter, that would only prove your daughter was the weaker loser.”
Yu Tai heard nothing after that.
Pretending to be unconscious was a technical skill because, if one was not careful… one might truly fall asleep.
When Li Shijie placed Yu Tai on the bed, Jiang Wenyi, who had been watching silently, suddenly stared at Yu Tai’s sleeve and murmured, “Hm?”
“Sect Leader, what is it?” Li Shijie asked, following his gaze to Yu Tai’s sleeve.
Jiang Wenyi was about to reach toward it when his mind abruptly went blank. Only when Li Shijie called to him a second time did he withdraw his hand and say it was nothing.
“No one is to disturb her before her injuries heal.”
With that, he turned and left.
“Yes,” Li Shijie replied, puzzled.
Had the Sect Leader not just instructed her to look after Junior Sister for the next few days?
After she left, a tiny figure suddenly emerged from the sleeve Jiang Wenyi had been staring at.
The little figure possessed refined, handsome features. Even with his black hair comically braided down his back, nothing could diminish his transcendent beauty.
He leaped to the floor and transformed upon landing into a tall, handsome young man.
His jade-like fingers slowly loosened the young woman’s white inner robe, revealing the bloody gash the whip had torn across her back.
A heavy strike from a Nascent Soul cultivator would not heal like an ordinary wound, even after medicine was applied.
Shu Li lowered his eyes and stared for a long time. Perhaps even he did not realize how terrifying his expression had become.
When his normally gentle face darkened, the pressure it radiated was frightening.
Shu Li reached for the demon-beast pouch set nearby and opened it.
In the next instant, a round panda appeared on the floor.
Xia Mo was about to chirp out of habit, but the instant it saw Shu Li’s expression, it fell silent.
It climbed onto the bed, carefully moved around Yu Tai, and licked the wound. Distress filled Xia Mo’s eyes.
It had tried to struggle free at the time, but Yu Tai had firmly held the demon-beast pouch shut and refused to release it.
“Watch her. I’ll be back soon.”
Shu Li’s voice remained mild, but not a hint of a smile appeared on his face. At some point, his normally clear eyes had turned scarlet.
He stroked Xia Mo’s head. The poor panda’s fur stood on end in fear, but it did not dare move and obediently allowed him to pet it.
Only after the hands above it disappeared did Xia Mo raise its head. Shu Li was already gone.
It sighed in relief.
Ever since meeting Yu Tai, this panda was either bristling or on its way to bristling.
When would it finally take human form and escape the suffering of having its fur stand on end?