Chapter 286: The Niece and Aunt Who Ran Away from Home

"Who gave you the nerve to run off without even saying goodbye?"

The woman holding Qing was tall and slender, her beauty elegant rather than flamboyant, gentle and serene, clad in a simple long robe.

"I… I left a note."

Qing instinctively tried to escape, but found she couldn't break free from the woman's grip.

She forced a sweet smile, her voice pleading pitifully: "Auntie, please let me off this time."

"Xu Qing'er!"

The woman called Auntie pinched her cheek irritably and scolded: "Do you want to die? Do you think it's safe for someone at the Embracing Elixir Realm to wander outside? And you dare take the Xu family's Array Scripture with you! Do you want to kill your father with worry?"

"There's so much interesting stuff in the book—I've never seen any of it. Just let me look a little longer…"

Qing continued pleading, but her sidelong glance stole toward the Eight Directions Eatery.

When will Brother Shen notice he's lost me?

"Hmph, still hoping someone will come rescue you."

The woman picked her up outright and whispered: "This time I came out, I brought the full set of the Hundred Ghosts Calming Array. Feel like trying it?"

"Hmph."

Xu Qing'er dropped to all fours, giving up resistance entirely.

Her aunt was an oddity of the Xu family—disliked learning arrays, yet excelled in cultivation.

Her cultivation had reached the peak of Slain Hunyuan, silencing the entire elder generation of the clan.

Add to that her father's doting affection—he'd prepared countless ready-made array devices for her—and together, her power was unimaginable.

"I advise you to put me down, or else…"

"Or else what?"

A hint of arrogance, incongruous with her gentle features, surfaced on the woman's face.

"Or else you might have to stay here."

A cold voice sounded behind her. She froze, surprise flashing across her face; she instinctively turned—then immediately felt the palm pressed against her spine.

Heat flickered within the palm, unstable and searing.

As if it could melt a Nascent Soul.

The woman drew a deep breath, released her fingers, and dropped the girl: "Who are you?"

Qing's face lit up with relief; she darted behind Shen Yi and hid, poking only her head out: "I don't want to go back!"

Hearing this, Shen Yi raised an eyebrow.

He glanced sideways at Qing.

He'd just seen the woman gripping her, whispering threats, and assumed she'd been caught by the Xuan Guang Cave.

Now it seemed more like a rebellious junior had been caught sneaking out by family.

Shen Yi casually dismissed the Li Huo.

He couldn't be bothered to care anymore.

He turned back toward the eatery.

Though Qing was useful to him, he wouldn't dare snatch her from under her elder's nose—after all, the places he was heading to were still dangerous.

Honestly, at the Embracing Elixir Realm and still a caged little bird with no freedom? That surprised him.

"Hey!"

Qing was about to explain, begging Brother Shen to let her aunt go.

Suddenly, her protector vanished—and she met the woman's cold stare again.

She shuddered, forcing a smile to awaken the woman's affection: "Auntie, Qing'er knows she's wrong."

But she saw the woman rubbing her wrist, leaning closer.

"Auntie!"

"Auntie, it's Qing'er… Xu Wanyun, don't bully me too much!"

"I'm the one bullying you too much?" Xu Wanyun snatched her up, raising a hand to beat her—then paused, staring at the pitiful little face, and couldn't bring herself to strike.

She sighed, glancing toward where the young man had left: "You dared give him the Concealing Array Plate? Don't you know that plate bears the Xu family's mark? If he's connected to the Xuan Guang Cave, you'd already be dead."

That man approached you silently—just as you approached Xu Qing'er—using the exact same method.

"He's not connected at all."

Xu Qing'er waved her hand. Xu Wanyun hesitated, then leaned her face closer.

The next instant, her fair skin turned ashen.

Two slender fingers clamped down again, as if trying to tear Qing'er's face off.

How dare you? You've only just stepped out and already dared to provoke the Xuan Guang Cave—right into the face of a True Person of Soul Transformation!

You're boasting about him like some hero.

Claiming you helped in a Soul Transformation battle, landing the decisive blow.

"..."

Xu Qing'er rolled her eyes tearfully: "I told you because I know your Xu family hates the Xuan Guang Cave—don't tell anyone else."

"Your Xu family, your Xu family!"

Xu Wanyun vented her fury on Qing'er's face, then released her, looking shaken.

She waved her hand, dismissing the Concealing Array around them.

She dropped the subject.

"Come home with me," Xu Wanyun declared, leaving no room for argument.

"I still want to see the Sui Mu… a living Sui Mu, even possibly become a Spirit Root—don't you want to see it?" Qing'er coaxed. She knew her aunt best—she despised arrays; perhaps only Qing'er herself disliked hiding behind them more than her.

"Stop pretending. If you didn't want to come out, why did you come find me yourself instead of letting Father come?"

"I..."

Xu Wanyun was choked for a moment, then glared at her resentfully: "Just this once. Never again."

A Grand Master of the Peak Realm of the Jinghunyuan Sect, backed by numerous formations.

She could be called a top-tier powerhouse in this area.

Yet she lacks even the qualification to breathe the air freely.

Anyone would feel unwilling to accept this, but her usual guise of tranquility had deceived all clan members; only this niece could see through her disguise.

"Speak. Where is Suimu? I'll take you to see it." Xu Wanyun adjusted her breathing, feeling the slight burning sensation on her spine, somewhat unconvinced.

Using the Xu family's resources to deal with Xu family members is simply excessive.

"I don't want you to take me. Your worldly experience is too shallow, and you're stupid to the point of death."

Xu Xu Qinger, having finally broken free, rushed straight toward the Food Pavilion.

Entering the Food Pavilion, she found Shen Yi in a corner.

She patted her chest and handed over the small notebook: "Big Brother Shen, these are the things I just exchanged. It cost about thirty percent of the savings in my storage bag, and exchanging for that information used up another forty percent or so."

"Done?" Shen Yi raised his gaze to look.

Xu Xu Qinger turned to look at her aunt, who walked into the Food Pavilion with a blank expression, and stammered, "I guess so."

"What are all these?"

Shen Yi flipped through the notebook and found that most of the recorded items were hard to understand.

"I checked the cultivation techniques they offered for exchange; they were all worthless. Truly powerful methods are rarely carried on one's person, so I simply exchanged for other things instead."

A-Qing leaned close to Shen Yi's ear and said with breath like orchids, "These are all used to repair the Nine Swords Annihilating Calamity Great Array. I know how to repair them, and I also know how to perfect them."

Seeing the two in such a posture.

Xu Wanyun instinctively clenched her five fingers tight.

"Stay away from me."

Shen Yi, somewhat speechless, pushed A-Qing's head away.

Don't forget, in the eyes of outsiders, this young man still looks like a scholar, and with his handsome and delicate appearance, it is easy to cause misunderstandings.

"Oh, oh!"

Xu Xu Qinger nodded obediently.

Seeing this, Xu Wanyun finally calmed her anger slightly, adjusted her expression, and sat down opposite Shen Yi.

(End of this chapter)