Chapter 199: The Visitor Comes with Ill Intent and Fierce Intent

"They call it a Water Mirror, but is this really water..." Lingxiang reached out her hand and probed into the ink-like pool for a long while, yet she felt no sensation of water at all, even though she had indeed submerged her hand into it!

Lingxiang was utterly baffled; she tried to scoop up a handful of water, but when she lifted her hand to look, there was nothing in her palm.

Could it be because of the Penglai branch?

Thinking this, Lingxiang flicked her fingers, took a withered branch from her Universe Bag, and then retrieved the Water Spirit Pearl from her bosom. Yet even so, she truly did not know what she ought to do.

Her mother's notes only wrote what was needed to enter the Water Mirror, but did not explicitly state what exactly had to be done. Now that she had obtained these two items, she was at a loss when faced with reality.

Seeing Lingxiang squatting by the lake looking at a loss, Long Qi felt a bit uneasy. In his view, Lingxiang had always been confident in her actions, and he had never seen her so flustered. He walked to Lingxiang's side and squatted down with her, staring at her tightly furrowed brows and saying softly, "Perhaps something is missing, or some detail has been overlooked. You need not be so panicked; it is still early, we can think of a way slowly. I will stay here and accompany you."

Listening to Long Qi's comforting words, Lingxiang felt a warmth in her heart. She suddenly realized one thing: although Long Qi was still somewhat childish, he had become much more steady at some point, and even knew how to care for others' feelings, no longer as reckless and impulsive as when they first met.

Lingxiang did not know what kind of feeling was in her heart. At the very beginning, she had never thought that strange feelings would arise between her and Long Qi; she was truly cultivating him slowly, just as one would teach a disciple. But later, she discovered that after spending a long time with him, she would sometimes even feel a sense of reliance.

When exactly did it start? Was it when he made a strange chair for her while she was injured, or the nonsense he spoke by the river on the day of the Shangyuan Festival?

Or did it start back in Liangcheng when he was drunk?

For a moment, Lingxiang's thoughts drifted. She looked at Long Qi; her eyes were like autumn water, bright pupils and ink-black irises, making even the deep pool nearby seem inferior by comparison.

Long Qi did not know why Lingxiang was looking at him like this, but he felt that her eyes were truly extremely beautiful. Long Qi felt as if a breath of True Qi was lodged in his chest, darting around wildly one moment, and the next, it seemed to be pushing against his throat, ready to burst out at any time.

Gazing into the depths of Lingxiang's eyes, Long Qi's body could not help but lean forward involuntarily. Yet for some reason, his consciousness warned him not to be rash, which resulted in him swaying back and forth.

Just as Long Qi's thoughts were drifting, a burst of laughter suddenly rang out. The two immediately came to their senses and turned to look behind them. They saw a white figure suddenly emerge from the gloomy forest, and behind him, a woman was tied up.

"Wei... Brother Wei Chang..." Long Qi was extremely astonished; he had never expected to encounter him in such a place.

No! To be precise, Long Qi had not expected that he would ever meet him again in his lifetime. When he first got to know him, it was only because of the strange events in Liangcheng that he had deliberately approached him, merely to gather information.

"Little friend Long Qi, long time no see, I hope you have been well!" Wei Chang opened his folding fan, a smile appearing on his face, and he shook the fan leisurely as he greeted Long Qi.

Long Qi's look of surprise lasted only a flash. Hearing Wei Chang call him, he immediately wanted to stand up to return the greeting, but was pulled by his robe by Lingxiang at his side. His body paused, thinking Lingxiang had been squatting for too long and needed him to help her up. But as soon as he turned his head, he saw Lingxiang's expression was grave, her brows furrowed even more severely than before.

He was very confused as to what was wrong with Lingxiang. Logically speaking, when she was at the Liangcheng government office, she had met Wei Chang once; why was she so nervous now? And...

And it was not just Lingxiang; even the four of them—Xin Yi, Zhao Wuyang, Liu Xia, and Banxia—were gripping their weapons, looking as if they were facing a formidable enemy, and Xin Yi even seemed to be trembling all over.

This... what on earth was going on?

In fact, it was no wonder Long Qi felt baffled. During the Second Martial Exercise of the Yuanqing Sect, he had fallen into a coma due to severe injuries, and no one had told him the ins and outs of the matter afterward, and at that time, he had focused all his attention on Lingxiang.

The person who had come was none other than the one who had repeatedly offended Yuanqing, plotted the tragic state of the Second Martial Exercise, and taken away the prisoner Huiwu—the one known as the White-Faced Asura, Bai Wuchang—the number one strategist under the Demon Lord!

The reason why Liu Xia and the others were so nervous was that they had all seen him before. Elder Qianyuan's cultivation was so profound, yet he was helpless against him, and even the Sect Leader True Person had not been able to injure him in the slightest, which showed how extremely formidable this person was.

As for Xin Yi's trembling, it was because the person tied up behind Bai Wuchang was his mother!

"Oh my, my, I taught you martial arts when you were young and went to great lengths to pass on witchcraft to you, yet I never thought you would betray me now. You truly are a wolf cub that cannot be tamed." Bai Wuchang smiled while shaking his fan, then exerted force with his hand and yanked the hemp rope, causing Lady Lu to stumble and fall at his feet.

Bai Wuchang stepped on Lady Lu's back and said with a smile, "Are you not afraid that I will kill her?" As he spoke, he exerted force with his foot, twisting it continuously on Lady Lu's back.

"Unless..." Bai Wuchang dragged out his tone, closed his folding fan, and pointed at Lingxiang, saying, "Unless you kill these people right now and capture that woman alive, I will spare your mother."

Lady Lu felt the pain and first let out a muffled groan, then looked up at Xin Yi. Because her mouth was stuffed with coarse cloth, she could not speak, and could only shake her head hard with red eyes, signaling Xin Yi not to worry about her.

The sorrow in his mother's eyes was like steel needles, deeply piercing Xin Yi's heart. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Bai Wuchang. Although his hands were gripping the twin blades at his waist, he could not stop trembling. With a "clang," he finally drew his Deer Horn Twin Blades, his expression resolute and filled with baleful energy.

In the blink of an eye, the forest was already filled with flying sand and stones. Seeing this, Long Qi immediately remembered that this was the move Xin Yi had used outside the city of Qizhou!

Long Qi felt a sense of foreboding in his heart, and Lingxiang even shouted the words "Not good!" out loud. The two of them had witnessed the power of this move; even Lingxiang's magic shield could not resist it. It was that very time that the two of them were heavily injured by his single strike, and had Chiyanzi not arrived in time, they would likely have perished in the Yellow Springs!

Could it be that Xin Yi was really going to listen to him and kill them?!

Long Qi hurriedly drew his Seven-Star Longyuan, his heroic brows locked and his eyes wide open, urgently channeling his Spirit Power to prepare to counter Xin Yi. Just then, he heard Lingxiang shout loudly, "Quick! Quick, stop him! Make him stop!"

He naturally knew he had to stop him, but among the few of them, Xin Yi had the highest cultivation, and everyone knew his power well; even if they joined forces, they might not be able to defeat him!

Just as Long Qi was pondering a countermeasure, he saw Xin Yi move, and in an instant, he vanished without a trace!