Chapter 71

Once the brief farce ended, Shu Li turned his attention back to Shen Zhiyou.

The atmosphere instantly became taut with hostility.

No one could tell who moved first.

By the time Xia Mo turned his head, the two men were already locked in combat.

They moved too quickly for the naked eye to follow. All that could be seen were one white and one black streak of light colliding and swiftly separating, each intent on fighting until the other died.

Shen Zhiyou wiped the blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. “It seems becoming a demonic cultivator greatly increased your cultivation.”

In stark contrast to his disheveled state, not even the corner of Shu Li’s robe was disturbed.

Standing there entirely unscathed, Shu Li looked at Shen Zhiyou with cool indifference. “A genius blessed by heaven-that was your assessment of me back then.”

Shen Zhiyou’s lips curved mockingly. “This venerable one has never misjudged anyone.”

Off to the side, Xia Mo let out a bored yawn. “Shu Li, stop playing around and finish this quickly. This panda is hungry.”

Shu Li glanced his way. “Mm. Understood.”

Shen Zhiyou raised an eyebrow. For some reason, a terrible premonition suddenly came over him.

What happened next perfectly confirmed his suspicions.

When the person before him opened his eyes in the next instant, they were entirely scarlet.

Black Mist spread around him, the roiling darkness streaked with a strange and indescribably eerie blood-red hue.

Shen Zhiyou narrowed his eyes. “You have already reached Body Integration?”

The man radiating danger tilted his head. “Mm?”

“Would you like to take a closer look?” he asked with a soft laugh, lips pursed.

His graceful movements paired with his eerie appearance made him breathtakingly captivating, impossible to look away from.

Unfortunately, the only person Shu Li wanted to see him at his most alluring couldn’t see him at all right now.

As if he had witnessed something inconceivable, Shen Zhiyou took a step back. A crack appeared in his habitually expressionless, doll-like face, as though its mask had finally broken.

“You… That’s impossible!”

In the next instant, Shen Zhiyou abruptly vanished from where he stood.

Shu Li withdrew the terrifying demonic qi swirling around him.

“He escaped,” he said flatly.

Despite his words, he showed no desire to give chase.

Walking over to one corner, he beckoned to Xia Mo, who was crouching on the floor, rubbing his stomach and sighing miserably.

Xia Mo immediately stood and approached him. “Did you find Yu Tai?”

Shu Li nodded and pointed at the corner. “She’s right here.”

Xia Mo looked at the empty corner, then back at Shu Li, his expression conflicted. “Shu Li, when did you secretly go blind with Yu Tai behind my back?”

Shu Li answered by flicking him on the forehead.

Clutching his forehead, Xia Mo huffed indignantly. “This panda was joking! Shu Li can’t take a joke.”

After Shen Zhiyou left, Xia Mo had sensed Yu Tai’s aura.

It was faint, but it undeniably existed in this invisible corner.

Yu Tai was right here.

“It’s a formation.” Xia Mo sniffed, then said with some grievance, “I can’t get inside.”

The formation was designed specifically for human cultivators. As a demon beast, Xia Mo couldn’t enter it at all.

Shu Li reached out and brushed his hand across the seemingly empty corner. “Wait here for me.”

With that, he stepped forward and disappeared.

Left alone, Xia Mo pouted and muttered under his breath, “This panda wants to go inside too.”

…

Yu Tai yawned in boredom.

She had made a circuit of the scene. Aside from the house, whenever she traveled a certain distance in any other direction, something like a barrier appeared before her and blocked her path.

It was like reaching the edge of an undeveloped map in a game.

System: [Come back and explore this area later~]

After leaving the Bishui Secret Realm, Yu Tai had realized she knew absolutely nothing about formations and had studied the subject intensively to make up for it.

But the facts proved she might simply have no talent for it.

Just like now-she couldn’t even identify where the formation core was.

When she returned to the ruined house, Yu Tai wondered how far the scene had progressed this time.

Had it reached the part where she was dragged away, or where she experienced her birth mother’s betrayal?

Unexpectedly, when she entered again, the three silhouettes that had been arguing were gone.

In their place stood a familiar figure.

Yu Tai blinked. Her mouth moved faster than her thoughts, calling the person’s name before she could think. “Shu Li?”

The person she called stiffened, then slowly turned around.

For some reason, the eyes that were always clear and gentle looked rather gloomy now, staring unwaveringly at the young woman before him.

Unsure whether he was real or an illusion, Yu Tai frowned. “What’s wrong?”

At her words, the man moved his fingers and walked toward her.

Yu Tai had been somewhat guarded, but the person before her abruptly pulled her into his arms. His familiar cool fragrance surrounded her, dispelling the trace of fear in her heart that even she hadn’t noticed.

She may no longer have cared.

But seeing this memory again-a memory like a bloody scar across her childhood-still made her uncomfortable.

The sense of security this embrace gave her forced her to recognize her true feelings.

So she really did still care after all?

Yu Tai patted him on the back. “All right. How did you get in here?”

Shu Li straightened and lowered his eyes, melancholy lingering in his expression. “I don’t know. By the time I realized what was happening, I was already inside.”

Yu Tai found it strange that Shu Li, a mortal without any spiritual power, had been allowed inside, but then another thought occurred to her.

This was most likely another scheme by the sect leader of the Zuiyin Sect.

“You saw everything?” Yu Tai asked without expression.

Understanding what she meant, Shu Li nodded.

Yu Tai lifted her eyelids and glanced at him. “Nothing you want to ask?”

Shu Li tucked the loose hair beside her cheek behind her ear. Instead of withdrawing his hand, he brushed the pad of his finger lightly across her cheek.

“If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t ask.”

Thinking that he at least knew better than to pry, Yu Tai swatted away the hand lingering beside her cheek. “How do we get out?”

Taking her hand, Shu Li led her into a corner.

At some point while they were speaking, the battered little girl had reappeared there.

This time, however, she no longer endlessly repeated what had happened during that period. She merely stood there in silence, staring at Yu Tai with a pair of pitch-black eyes.

The little girl’s features were only about half similar to Yu Tai’s. Though they weren’t perfectly identical, anyone familiar with Yu Tai would need only one look to guess the truth.

They were the same person.

The emotions in their eyes were simply too alike.

Shu Li guided Yu Tai’s hand to the little girl’s neck. His voice was gentle, coaxing her as he said, “Kill her.”