“Yutong, get out of the way,” Xie Wanting frowned.
“Eldest Senior Brother, I…” Qiu Yutong looked at Xie Wanting almost helplessly, but his feet was rooted to the ground.
“City Master Xie, you can’t cover this up.” Gui Wuya said coldly.
Sang Lingxi glared at Gui Wuya fiercely then whispered as he looked down at Xie Wanting, “Senior Brother?”
Bai Hanyuan lowered his eyes and also looked at Xie Wanting in his wheelchair.
Xie Wanting stared intently at Lu Xiao behind Qiu Yutong and looked at him carefully for a long time, as if he was judging something.
There was dead silence on the cliff.
After a while, the Sect Leader of North Snow City took a deep breath and turned his eyes to Qiu Yutong, softening his voice as much as possible, almost as if coaxing his little junior brother, “Yutong, come here, come over to Senior Brother. ”
With these words of Xie Wanting, Qiu Yutong could clearly feel Lu Xiao’s breath tensing behind him for a moment. Inexplicably panicking, he turned back to Lu Xiao and said, “Xiao-er, say something, you’re not the murderer, right?”
Lu Xiao’s lips were pursed tightly, barely any blood on his face as he only shook his head reluctantly, “It wasn’t me.”
“It’s not you? Then how come you have such a strong demonic aura on you?!” Gui Wuya stepped forward and shouted sternly.
With a soft sound, Qiu Yutong, almost subconsciously, pulled out Tianzhao Yunhai with the tip of his sword pointed straight at Gui Wuya, “Don’t you come over!”
“Yutong, what’s wrong with you?” Xie Wanting’s brows tightened, “If your disciple is innocent, then don’t defend him, let everyone examine him carefully, then that would be all.”
“Senior Brother, I…” Qiu Yutong’s voice was extremely hoarse, his mind in turmoil.
Eldest Senior Brother’s words made sense. If he had a clear conscience, he should let Lu Xiao be examined. But for some reason, he was vaguely afraid, and he couldn’t help thinking back over and over again, recalling the days when Lu Xiao had acted erratically. He was afraid… what if, what if…
“Peak Master Qiu?” Gui Wuya sneered, “What, do you want to cover up for your disciple? In my opinion, he is probably the murderer and devil core is on him!”
“It’s not him, it’s definitely not him.” Qiu Yutong said in a hoarse voice.
“Yutong, since you believe it’s not him, then let him come over and let everyone check it out.” Xie Wanting said in a deep voice, “Don’t worry, as long as Senior Brother is here, no one will ever be wronged.”
Sang Lingxi nodded, “Little junior brother, don’t worry.”
Bai Hanyuan also nodded slightly.
Qiu Yutong involuntarily squeezed the hilt of his sword, his palm slightly sweating as he struggled desperately in his heart. Eldest Senior Brother was right, but for some reason, his intuition told him that he couldn’t hand Lu Xiao over, but with this situation now… what should he do?
He looked at Xie Wanting, his voice as he spoke to him almost a plea, “Senior Brother, I can’t, I really can’t…”
Lu Xiao who was standing behind him suddenly whispered, “Shizun, don’t be sad.”
Qiu Yutong was dumbfounded for a moment, before he suddenly realised something and turned around abruptly!
Lu Xiao stared deeply at him, then suddenly took a few quick steps backwards, leapt backwards, and jumped off the cliff tens of feet high!
“Xiao-er!” Qiu Yutong barely had time to think before he too leapt off the cliff!
The foggy surface of the pond overwhelmed him, and the wind blew fiercely in his ears, when suddenly a high-pitched sound of a sword breaking through the air came from behind him!
Qiu Yutong swung his sword without thinking, and Tianzhao Yunhai swept it across the air, instantly swatting Weeping Blood away!
With a loud splash, the master and disciple fell into the cold pool!
“Little junior brother!”
“They’ve run away!”
“There’s really something wrong!”
“Go after them!”
“Be careful, don’t hurt Peak Master Qiu!”
With the sound of breaking air, dozens of spiritual swords, like a rainstorm, fell into the water!
As the water was muddied, Lu Xiao swept Qiu Yutong into his arms and swam out!
It wasn’t known how long it took for the two of them to emerge from the water and climb up, exhausted onto a large reef.
The reef was somewhere in the cold pool, surrounded by a mist-covered expanse of water– cold, wet and slippery. Qiu Yutong breathed heavily as he crouched on the reef, his hair and clothes soaked through, causing him to shiver involuntarily.
Lu Xiao didn’t look much better, but he seemed to care nothing about this, his dark phoenix eyes just staring blankly at Qiu Yutong, his voice trembling slightly, “Shizun, you, why did you follow me… ”
“Because you are not the murderer.” Qiu Yutong barely managed to brace himself and stared hard at his little disciple, “Xiao-er, as long as you say you didn’t do it, I’ll believe you.”
“It’s not me,” Lu Xiao said in one sentence.
“I knew it.” Qiu Yutong sighed with relief then hesitated slightly, “Then why did you run? Xiao-er, for some time now, I have always felt that you… aren’t quite alright.”
Lu Xiao lowered her eyes and didn’t answer for a long time…
Just when Qiu Yutong thought he wouldn’t answer, Lu Xiao opened his mouth softly, “Shizun, I… I may be a devil.”
Qiu Yutong’s mind blanked, his eyes widening incredulously, “A devil? How is this possible?”
Lu Xiao slightly turned his head away, as if not daring to look at Qiu Yutong’s expression, “When we just entered the secret realm, we encountered that lizard…”
He went out of his way to tell everything from the beginning and at the end, his voice became lower and lower, “Yesterday, at the bottom of the cold pool, I took out the heart of that monster. At that time, I had a strange feeling, I felt… I felt as if I had formed a core. ”
Qiu Yutong felt his voice go hoarse, “You, you have formed a core?”
Without waiting for Lu Xiao’s answer, he raised his hand trembling and gently pressed his palm against his chest. Even through the layer of wet fabric, he could feel the unusual burning aura between the Dantian of his chest and abdomen. It wasn’t the warm spiritual core of a cultivator, nor was it the cold devil core of yesterday, what he had under his hand was an unusually hot and extremely powerful …devil core.
As Qiu Yutong felt the rolling temperature of that devil core, he only felt alarmed and confused and couldn’t help but look up at Lu Xiao, “Xiao-er? This… how is this possible? ”
Lu Xiao whispered, “Shizun, if you can’t accept it, kill me.”
Qiu Yutong shook his head involuntarily, “No, no…”
How could he kill his little disciple? The only little disciple in his long monastic life, the little disciple he had raised for more than ten years, his cute and lovely disciple, the one who knew how to make cinnamon cake, the one who was very afraid of thunder, his lonely little disciple? Even if, even if he was a demon… how could he…
“You, you didn’t do anything bad. Even if you’re a demon, even if you’re a demon… you’re still my disciple.” Qiu Yutong said hoarsely, “Anyway, you’re my disciple, the rest… I, I don’t care.”
Lu Xiao looked at him in bewilderment, and a faint glow gradually emerged from his desperate eyes, even his voice trembled, “Really? You, you don’t care that I’m a demon?”
Qiu Yutong took a deep breath and tried to settle down, gritting his teeth, “Let’s not talk about that first, your identity is too dangerous, they won’t let you go… We have to find a place to hide.”
At the end of the sentence, Qiu Yutong’s voice was a bit rough. He knew very well that in this situation today, once he made such a decision, he would be cutting himself off from the cultivation world, and even from North Snow City.
He had betrayed the Cultivation World and North Snow City.
Lu Xiao stared at him with a fixedly, seeming to understand what he had given up, and his voice strained, “Shizun, I don’t want to get you involved.”
“At a time like this, cut the crap!” Qiu Yutong was so confused that he couldn’t help but give his little disciple a heavy slap on the head, then he grabbed a handful of his wet hair with extreme annoyance, “Forget it, let me think, where can we hide… You, don’t stay idle either, think for me! Think hard!”
Lu Xiao looked at his wretched and anxious appearance and only felt as if his heart in his chest was being burned by fire. It was hot and painful, as well as indescribably joyful and sweet… He wanted to hold the person in front of him tightly, he wanted to kiss him fiercely in spite of everything. He wanted to cry, and he wanted to laugh, he wanted to peck the side of this person’s face on the ear over and over again, to tell him over and over again how much he loved him…
Qiu Yutong didn’t notice the difference in him as he narrowed his eyes at the foggy distance, “Why don’t we go that way…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a bitter cold wind, clinging to the water, whistled!
Qiu Yutong reacted with a jolt and immediately swung his sword across the water!
Where Tianzhao Yunhai’s sword light swept, Weeping Blood flew and circled, returning to Gui Wuya’s hand in the distance! And behind Gui Wuya, North Sea Sword Sect, North Snow City, Nanshan Temple… hundreds of cultivators, all chased after him with their swords!
“Go!” Qiu Yutong pulled up Lu Xiao and the two of them leapt onto Tianzhao Yunhai and roared towards the heart of the pond!
Behind them, the wind blew and spiritual swords broke through the air!
Lu Xiao gritted his teeth and said, “Shizun, I… am very happy that you have treated me like this. But I can’t drag you down any more, hand me over.”
Qiu Yutong didn’t even bother to pay attention to him. His feet on Tianzhao Yunhai slanted slightly, avoiding another spiritual sword!
“Yutong, stop right there! Have you gone mad?!” An extremely anxious voice came from a distance behind him…
Qiu Yutong’s feet paused slightly. It was… Eldest Senior Brother’s voice. Xie Wanting had always been calm and collected, Qiu Yutong had never heard such an anxious voice from him before.
And on the opposite side a red shadow flashed, Weeping Blood once again screamed towards them!
Qiu Yutong leapt up in the air without a second thought and pointed his toe at the tip of the scarlet sword! Weeping Blood swirled back, almost removing Gui Wuya’s mask, the edge of the sword even taking down a strand of Gui Wuya’s hair!
Behind him, Xie Wanting’s wheelchair was already grazing the water. He frowned slightly as he drew out the white jade instrument at his waist!
Lu Xiao, almost by reflex, whirled down from Tianzhao Yunhai and snapped his hand around Xie Wanting’s throat!
The moment he had the death grip on Xie Wanting’s throat, he felt the blood in his chest boiling furiously, almost like some kind of ferocious beast! He knew that with a slight twist of his hand… but, this was Shizun’s most respected Eldest Senior Brother. He couldn’t do it, he couldn’t…
In a flash, he felt a slight pain in his abdomen.
The white jade instrument in Xie Wanting’s hand dug into his abdomen without mercy.
Lu Xiao hissed in pain and clenched his teeth hard! He knew that the man in front of him was dangerous, very dangerous, and that he should have crushed his throat immediately, but he also knew that if he did so, it would be all over between him and Qiu Yutong.
“Xiao-er!” Qiu Yutong’s mind was foggy as he called over Tianzhao Yunhai with his hand and sent a gust of wind over!
Xie Wanting manoeuvred his wheelchair and slid backwards violently several feet, “Yutong! Wake up! Your disciple is really a demonic creature!”
Tianzhao Yunhai’s biting sword wind stirred up huge waves several feet high on the surface of the pond. Qiu Yutong picked up Lu Xiao, jumped onto Tianzhao Yunhai and roared away with his sword!
He held Lu Xiao tightly, the wind blowing in his ears. The Cuiwei Cold Pool was so vast, but where could they escape to? For a moment, Qiu Yutong almost had the illusion that he was back in the illusionary world at the bottom of the pool, and that he was the bewildered Immortal Emperor Qing Heng…
“They’re in that direction!”
“Qiu Yutong has injured Sect Master Xie and Island Master Gui!”
“Has he turned into a demon?”
“It’s all that demon’s fault, don’t hurt Peak Master Qiu!”
“Yutong!”
“Quickly go after them!”
In all directions of the cold pool, there were cries of confusion, and Qiu Yutong, with his little disciple in his arms, simply didn’t know where to go. He stood frozen on Tianzhao Yunhai and listening to the faint cries in the distance, his mind was at a loss.
“They’re over there!”
“Don’t be afraid, that devil has been wounded!” With guttural shouts, dozens of spiritual swords, broke through the air! Hundreds of magic treasures came roaring in as well!
“Start-” Qiu Yutong shouted in a hoarse voice as he abruptly snapped back to attention!
With a loud boom, a huge wall of water rose above the cold water of the pond, and then quickly condensed into a curtain of ice, causing several of the spiritual swords and magic treasures to ‘crackle’ on top of the curtain and then fall!
What to do, what to do?
Qiu Yutong was barely holding on to the ice curtain, his mind in a state of confusion.
His spiritual power was limited, which meant he wouldn’t be able to hold this ice curtain for long, and escaping like this wasn’t a long-term solution after all. Moreover, Xiao-er was still injured… if only, if only he could lure these people away. However, they had already discovered that Xiao-er was a demon… Even if they split up, they would only go after Xiao-er, not him.
Lu Xiao covered the wound on his abdomen painfully and gasped lowly as he said in between pauses, “Shizun, listen to me, leave me to them. I’ll figure out the rest on my own, I’ll deal with them… What that Gui Wuya wants is just the devil core. If you hand me over, he won’t make things difficult for you… Without me this demon, your senior brothers, too, will protect you… cough cough…”
Qiu Yutong couldn’t stand it any longer, “You want to deal with them? What do you have to do with them? You are a demon, and no one in North Snow City or Nanshan Temple will speak for you! ”
As he said this, Qiu Yutong’s heart suddenly lurched violently.
Devil core?! Yes, the North Sea Sword Sect and others, just wanted devil core, while the monks of North Snow City, Nanshan Temple, wanted to exterminate the demon.
Putting down the demon and grabbing the demon core… What if the demon died and the demon core was in their possession?
Qiu Yutong pondered desperately. Lu Xiao, seeing his silence, repeated softly again, “Shizun, don’t make things hard, give me to them.”
In a flash, Qiu Yutong was suddenly struck by an idea…
This idea could save his little disciple, only he had to fool Gui Wuya, fool Eldest Senior Brother, fool Qing Ci Qing Hui, and fool these hundreds of cultivators… Not only that, he even had to fool Lu Xiao as well to ensure that nothing could go wrong… although, this was too cruel to his little disciple. However, it wouldn’t take long for Lu Xiao to understand.
Qiu Yutong pursed his lips tightly and tried to think. He knew himself very well. With his mind, with his level, it would be too difficult to fool Lu Xiao, to fool Eldest Senior Brother, and to fool Gui Wuya… According to his usual nature, what would he have to do to fool everyone?
Qiu Yutong was silent for a long time then finally hesitated, “Xiao-er, you mean, I should hand you over to them?”
Lu Xiao nodded gently.
“But if you fall into their hands, they will definitely pluck out your devil core.” Qiu Yutong pursed his lips and raised his eyes to his little disciple, his eyes full of struggle.
“Shizun, it’s nothing…” Lu Xiao softened his voice, as if trying to comfort him. Qiu Yutong shook his head gently as he interrupted him directly, “Xiao’er, I just think that instead of giving these people the advantage, you should give the demon core… to this master.”
Lu Xiao’s voice suddenly went mute and his whole body froze.
Qiu Yutong felt his throat go dry. He knew that he couldn’t act too stiff and desperate, because that would be too fake and Lu Xiao would definitely be able to detect the difference and if Lu Xiao looked a little bit wrong, Eldest Senior Brother, Gui Wuya and the others behind the ice curtain might notice the abnormality and that would be the end of the story. He had to look very natural and perfect to fool everyone.
This was too difficult for him… but for his little disciple, he had to do his best to make the play perfect.
Qiu Yutong took a deep breath and tried to use his usual tone, coaxing softly, “Xiao-er, give the devil core to this master, okay?”
Lu Xiao looked at him dumbly, as if he couldn’t believe his ears. He asked hesitantly, “Shizun, what …… are you talking about?”
While the two were talking, countless spiritual sword spells crackled and snapped! The ice curtain was already cracked and couldn’t be supported anymore!
Gui Wuya suddenly said, “Wait, what is Qiu Yutong trying to do?”
“Stop,” Xie Wanting also raised his hand, stopping the crowd’s attack.
On both sides of the ice curtain, there was dead silence.
Qiu Yutong knew very well that at this moment, with all eyes on him, he had to do his best not to let anyone see the slightest flaw.
“Xiao-er, I’m sorry… I’ll be quick, it won’t hurt too much.” He apologized softly while steeply raising his right hand!
Five long, slender, white fingers, like lightning, plunged viciously into Lu Xiao’s chest!
Lu Xiao shivered in pain, but didn’t resist in the slightest, he only looked at Qiu Yutong in fear and confusion, as if he suspected that he was still in an illusion, or in some terrible nightmare.
Qiu Yutong lowered his eyes, put on a guilty expression and quietly avoided his gaze.
Gradually, Lu Xiao seemed to finally understand something, and the blood almost faded from his young and handsome face in a flash, “Shizun, you, you want to kill me? You want… the demon core too?”
Qiu Yutong lowered his eyes and didn’t reply, he only tightened his five fingers slowly. He could almost feel the burning demon core in Lu Xiao’s chest, trembling gently between his own five fingers, too weak to withstand a single blow.
He took control of the devil core and finally summoned up the courage to slowly raise his eyes and look directly at his little disciple, “Xiao-er, you should also know that this master only saved you in the beginning for the purpose of training… I only wanted to save you this time so that your devil core wouldn’t fall into the hands of others. The way of swordplay is so vast that indifference is the only way to achieve perfection… Consider it as a way to make this master whole.”
Lu Xiao stared at him blankly, no more blood on his face.
It wasn’t known how long it took for Lu Xiao to open his mouth, his voice hoarse and unpleasant, “Cough, cough, it turns out it’s like this, it turns out it’s like this. Perfection in indifference… In fact, five years ago, when you ascended, I should have understood.”
Qiu Yutong was speechless but could only say forcefully, “Xiao-er, you know that I cultivate the sword…”
Lu Xiao looked at him for a long time and suddenly the corners of his mouth rose, only this smile was simply worse than crying, “And yes, the sword… cultivating the sword, Shizun cultivates the supreme sword cultivation. The great sword cultivation is merciless, everything else is nothing.”
“Xiao-er, don’t be like that. I, I…” Qiu Yutong’s voice was hoarse, but he had nothing to say.
His five fingers, which were stuck in the other’s warm chest, and the burning devil core, which was trembling at his fingertips, what else could he say?
Lu Xiao ignored him and didn’t even seem to feel the pain, his voice was as soft as a murmur, “Ahem, after all these years, I’ve been lying to myself, thinking that Shizun, despite being drunk on swordsmanship, still, more or less, cares about me… I’m even thinking that when I go back afterwards, I’m going to tell you… I thought that I would have a slight chance… I was simply delusional, it’s ridiculous, it’s ridiculous.”
As he said this, the light finally disappeared from his dark eyes: “…it’s ridiculous.”
Qiu Yutong looked at him and felt an indescribable twinge in his chest, as if his heart was being pinched by sharp nails, and he could hardly breathe for a moment. Enough, he could not continue to pretend… his fingertips fiercely condensed a ball of spiritual energy, fiercely hit the other party dantian!
Lu Xiao grunted, but did not struggle at all, his pupils gradually dissipated, hollow and stubbornly looking at Qiu Yutong, as he finally collapsed limply in the other’s arms.
Qiu Yutong tightened his arm gently. Sleep, my little disciple, when you wake up you will naturally understand why I did it. I’m sorry for deceiving you like this, for hurting you like this, but I can’t help it, I’m just too stupid, I can only think of this way to protect you…
He wrapped his left arm around Lu Xiao, his right hand slowly retracted from the other’s chest, and a devil core, a glistening and bright fake devil core, had manifested at his fingertips.
All eyes were fixed on the devil core.
And then Qiu Yutong gave a gentle push.
Lu Xiao’s tattered body, from above Tianzhao Yunhai, fell lightly into the deep cold pool, like a single leaf, without even making much of a splash.
No one paid any more attention to him, the devil was dead, the devil core was gone so he was no longer of any value.
Qiu Yutong’s eyes lowered as he watched Lu Xiao slowly sink into the dark, cold pool, finally disappearing… In this way, the demon creature was dead, and with the devil core in his hands, everyone would follow him. Twelve hours later, Lu Xiao would be at the bottom of the cold pool. When he woke up, when he found the devil core still inside his body, he would understand his painful intention…
His little disciple was so clever that he would naturally find a way to escape from the secret realm, and as long as he survived this hurdle, there would still be a time for them to meet as master and disciple.
Qiu Yutong closed his eyes, pretended to be cautious and gently put the fake Demon core into his Qiankun bag. Then, without looking back, flew went away on his sword!
With a loud sound, the large ice curtain shattered, and Gui Wuya sternly said, “Qiu Yutong has the devil core, give chase! ”
The author has something to say:
Qiuqiu: I’m such a quick-witted person! Cough cough, but who knows when Xiao xiao will wake up, and when he wakes up, will the devil core still be there?
