Chapter 13: Don't Let Go, Whatever You Do, Don't Tremble

The newcomer had hair longer than his waist, like a cascading waterfall, dazzling and mysterious.

His slightly translucent, cold-white skin and sharp, well-defined facial features looked as if they had been painted; an eye patch over his left eye added a touch of flawed beauty to his otherwise perfect face.

Su Xi's gaze landed on his bridegroom's wedding attire, her eyes lighting up as she reached out with her fair, slender hand, "Congratulations to the bridegroom, wishing you and the bride a lifetime of happiness and early offspring."

"Thank you, little sister, you are truly cute." Yue Hua placed a deep purple, top-grade magic crystal into the palm of Su Xi's hand.

Xie Guanyu said indifferently, "He is a bachelor; he just likes wearing bridegroom attire."

"Oh?" Su Xi hadn't expected this, but she soon curved her eyes into a smile, "Then let's just consider it practice in advance, so you'll be well-prepared when you actually get married."

"The little sister is right, what is your name?" Yue Hua lowered himself to look Su Xi in the eye.

Su Xi replied, "My surname is Su, given name Xi, and my Daoist name is Huayuan."

"Huayuan..." Yue Hua began to laugh, and paired with his bright red wedding attire and beautiful face, it had a rather swaying, bewitching quality.

"This Daoist name is also one of a kind." Xie Guanyu chuckled, then took the Black Scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Su Xi, "You owe me a favor."

"You completed the mission!" Yue Hua looked at the Black Scroll, very surprised.

Su Xi snatched it over, tucked the scroll into her Storage Bag, and then transferred it from the Storage Bag into the System Space; now, there was no way Xie Guanyu could snatch it back.

"I don't owe you a favor at all. You captured my South Dao Sect disciples, so releasing them is only right. The fact that I'm not holding you accountable is only because my strength is inferior to yours, and I have no choice but to swallow my pride."

"..." Xie Guanyu was speechless; he didn't see her swallowing her pride anywhere.

Yue Hua draped an arm over Xie Guanyu's shoulder and teased, "Didn't manage to handle it, huh?"

"Get lost!" Xie Guanyu pushed him away and said to Su Xi, "Only I can open the scroll."

"..." Su Xi looked at Yue Hua, "Is what he said true or false?"

"False."

Xie Guanyu glanced at him indifferently and warned, "Yue Hua!"

Yue Hua chuckled, "I can open it too. I leave backdoors in all the magic artifacts I refine."

"Is that so? Then I'll have to tell those demonic cultivators who bought your magic artifacts this news."

"Don't, don't, don't, I won't interfere in your affairs, alright?"

Xie Guanyu looked back at Su Xi, "Inside are all mortals or low-level cultivators. If you force it open, you will suffer the backlash of the magic artifact; the lucky ones will end up demented or insane with half a life left. The unlucky ones will have their souls scattered directly. Furthermore, if they aren't released within ten days, they will be eroded by the demonic nature within the magic artifact."

Su Xi had no choice but to take the scroll back out, "I... owe you half a favor."

"Since when are favors counted in halves?" Yue Hua had never heard of such a thing.

"Of course there are; half a favor means you can't force me to repay it." Su Xi said it right off the bat.

"Agreed," Xie Guanyu replied.

Yue Hua was even more incredulous, "Xie Guanyu, since when are you so easy to talk to?"

Xie Guanyu said, "I'll take the half-favor first; look at that pained expression on her face, by the time we're done, even this half will be gone."

"Why do you let her have her way with everything?"

"She is Rong Shou's disciple."

"Rong Shou?" Yue Hua's beautiful face twitched violently, "How could he possibly take a disciple?"

Xie Guanyu nodded, "Her Daoist name is Huayuan, of the 'Hua' generation."

Yue Hua realized, "I was wondering why something felt off just now. Of the South Dao Sect's 'Yuan' generation, he's the only one left, isn't he?"

Xie Guanyu said, "Even if there were others, they have all entered death-seclusion to attempt the Ascension Tribulation; they wouldn't have the time to take on disciples."

"No, that guy is a lunatic; you actually dare to provoke his disciple." As Yue Hua said this, he sized up the ignorant and confused-looking Su Xi, "I have matters to attend to, so I'm heading back. Do as you please."

He didn't want to provoke Rong Shou.

Even the Demon Lord hadn't explicitly said they must move against the South Dao Sect; it was Xie Guanyu who had volunteered, and everyone was just waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

Unexpectedly, not only did Xie Guanyu succeed, but he even captured Rong Shou's disciple.

Once the disciple was touched, the Master would definitely come later.

And every time Rong Shou came, he would start a massacre; he had better pack up and avoid the trouble, just in case he got caught in the crossfire.

Yue Hua left via Teleportation.

"Why did he say my Master is a lunatic?" Su Xi recalled the appearance of Rong Shou—gentle and refined, with the aura of a Daoist immortal and a boundless Dharma body.

"Rong Shou possesses a dual Dao Body of immortal and demon; his birth mother was a Loose Immortal, and his birth father is the Demon Lord."

"... What did you say?!" Su Xi felt as if she had been doused with a basin of ice water in the middle of winter; she froze instantly!

Xie Guanyu continued, "You are the fifth person to know this secret."

Su Xi suddenly felt a sense of dread; although she loved listening to gossip, most of it was just trivial neighborhood chatter.

This secret had far-reaching implications and might even trigger turmoil.

"Why would you tell me such an important matter? I don't want to know at all!" Su Xi glared at Xie Guanyu in frustration.

Xie Guanyu smiled, "I just wanted you to know, to see what your reaction would be."

Su Xi flared up, "You're sick! Seriously sick! You need treatment! No, you're beyond saving."

"... So, even if I handed this scroll to the Demon Lord, he would still send someone to return it to Rong Shou." Xie Guanyu took the scroll back from her hand and gave it a light flick, and the scroll opened; the names on it disappeared one by one, and on the ground appeared one unconscious South Dao Sect disciple after another, along with the pre-selected disciples participating in the assessment.

There were three hundred people in total.

After releasing the people, Xie Guanyu put away the scroll, suddenly lunged toward Su Xi, grabbed her by the back of her collar, and Teleported directly into the high sky.

Su Xi hurriedly grabbed his clothes, looking as if she were terrified of being dropped to her death, "Don't let go, and whatever you do, don't tremble."

"... It is you who is trembling."

"Nonsense!" Su Xi firmly refused to admit it, "Put me down quickly, my fellow disciples are still unconscious; I need to protect them, that place might have demonic creatures like magic lizards."

Xie Guanyu said, "They will wake up in a moment."

Su Xi looked down, but saw nothing but pitch-black darkness; she could only hear the rushing, turbulent sound of the Huang He, perhaps they were flying directly over the Huang He.

"Let me ask you something, does my Master have a grudge against you?" Otherwise, why would he release all the South Dao Sect disciples but keep her captured alone?

She would not be so conceited as to think that Xie Guanyu had taken a fancy to her.

According to what Er Miao said, this devil's cultivation was even higher than Master's, so his age naturally could not be small; what had he not experienced, and what kind of people had he not seen... Wait a moment, if his cultivation was even higher than Master's, did that not mean he had seen through her spiritual roots?

Su Xi instantly perked up.

Xie Guanyu noticed her strangeness and replied, "Rong Shou and I do indeed have some irreconcilable grievances!"

Southern Dao Sect.

Rong Shou received a sound transmission talisman from Hua Qing.

The disciples of the Southern Dao Sect who were captured by the demonic cultivators are currently at the western corner of the Huang He. Except for the missing Xue sisters, the others are all there.

And when those disciples were captured, Su Xi was not at the Xian Dao Tang, so she did not know that she had also been captured.

As for the person who captured them, his name is Xie Guanyu.

Rong Shou sent a sound transmission to Hua Qing, 【I am going out for a trip; if there is anything, just send a sound transmission.】