Chapter 77

It's so late, why is Li Qingying still going out?

Even if she had something to do and needed to go out, she would definitely tell me, and she wouldn't leave without closing the door.

After all, there are too many important things in the pawnshop; she knows what matters.

Looks like she's had another nightmare!

Thinking this, I immediately rushed out, caught up to Li Qingying, and grabbed her: "Green Cherry sister, wake up! Where are you going?"

I shook Li Qingying hard, and when my gaze fell on the tip of her nose, I froze.

The red mole on the tip of her nose was bleeding again.

Li Qingying was quickly awakened by me; she opened her dazed eyes, a little confused: "How did I end up standing here?"

"Green Cherry sister, the red mole on your nose is bleeding again," I said, pulling Li Qingying's hand as we walked back.

After returning, I helped her clean up the blood while asking what had just happened.

Li Qingying said: "It was a nightmare; I dreamed of some bad things and followed the dream out the door."

"Another nightmare," I said sternly. "This isn't a coincidence; you're a cultivator with high alertness, so recurring nightmares must indicate a problem."

I thought and thought, then suddenly realized: "Could it have been caused by yesterday's blood mist?"

Last night at the small stream, that all‑pervading blood mist was entirely the transformation of the resentful qi and killing qi of the Yin soldiers; I had a shield to block it, but Li Qingying fought the Yin soldiers in the blood mist for a while, not knowing how much of the mist she had inhaled into her body.

After returning, I noticed she was a bit off, but I only thought she was tired.

Now it's clear it's not just simple fatigue!

I had to ask: "Green Cherry sister, can you tell me what exactly you dreamed about in the nightmare?"

Only by figuring this out can we prescribe the right remedy.

Li Qingying froze for a moment, narrowed her eyes, as if recalling the dream.

But she soon shook her head: "Xiao Jiu, it's fine, just a nightmare; I'll be all right after a few days of good rest."

I refused to give up, clasping her arm and begging several times, but Li Qingying simply wouldn't say another word.

I could only give up, praying that the blood mist's influence on her would dissipate soon.

On the third night, I again insisted on sleeping together with Li Qingying.

Li Qingying's spirits were not great; she lay in bed talking to me, and before long fell asleep.

I, however, dared not sleep at all.

I stayed up until midnight, and beside me, Li Qingying suddenly sat up.

Immediately after, she put on her shoes and headed out.

I jumped up, grabbed her from behind in a bear hug, kept shouting and shaking her, and only with difficulty managed to wake her again.

At that moment, the red dot on the tip of Li Qingying's nose was bleeding again.

I understood in my heart that forcing Li Qingying to go to the hospital for a check‑up would be absolutely unacceptable to her.

At that moment I was thinking whether I should lower my head and ask Bái Jīngmò to take a look.

But immediately I thought of another person.

Perhaps Li Qingying's condition isn't really an illness at all, but rather the intrusion of nefarious qi into her body.

Master Huìquán can help with this.

The next morning I got up early, tiptoed out of Li Qingying's room, called Master Huìquán, and roughly explained the situation to him.

Of course, I didn't mention the Yin soldiers of the ancient battlefield or the Red Flag Child.

After listening, Master Huìquán pondered for a while and then said: "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, regarding Miss Li's situation, in my view the blood mist may merely be the trigger; the key lies in her own obsession. You might as well let go and allow her to release her obsession—perhaps that would be better than forcibly intervening."

I was still uneasy: "Releasing the obsession? What if she can't do it?"

Master Huìquán said: "If she can't release it herself, I'll come over sometime to help her."

I could only agree.

That night I didn't go to Li Qingying's place to sleep; instead I stayed in my own room, pricking up my ears to listen for any movement outside.

At midnight, Li Qingying went out again.

Fortunately she wasn't driving; she headed west onto the road and then continued north along it.

I didn't disturb her, just kept following behind.

She was deep in the nightmare; normally such a vigilant person, even with me this close, she didn't notice.

We kept walking and walking until we reached the junction of Zhupan River and Linghai, where there is a large seafood market—that's where I originally found Li Qingying.

Li Qingying passed the seafood market, went straight in, then turned a corner, confirmed her direction, and continued walking along the seaside.

I realized that, given our current route, we were heading upstream of Linghai.

After we passed a small grove, I watched Li Qingying stand on a cliff edge, and my whole scalp began to go numb.

I lifted my foot to rush over—I had to pull her back as fast as possible, otherwise someone would die!

This cliff is extremely steep, with a vast expanse of rolling sea below.

Perhaps because it was night, I felt this expanse of sea was unusually dark!

But before I could rush over, I saw Li Qingying plop down on her knees at the cliff's edge, head bowed, gazing at the endless sea, and she began to weep in a suppressed way.

She cried bitterly, kowtowing toward the surging sea while muttering something I couldn't make out.

This process was lengthy and oppressive; Li Qingying was like a devout believer sincerely repenting.

Until she stopped crying and kowtowing, her whole person seemed to gradually wake up; I hurried forward, squatted down, and firmly embraced her.

Everyone has a past and untouchable reverse scales; as a friend, all I can do now is hold her tight and give her a shoulder to lean on.

We stayed like that on a steep seaside cliff, embracing for a good while.

When I felt Li Qingying's emotions finally subside, I tentatively asked: "Green Cherry sister, shall we go back?"

Li Qingying nodded and stood up.

The moment I stood up, a sudden pain struck the spot between my eyebrows; immediately, my brow and eyes felt as if they were burning.

The next moment, Feng Wu unexpectedly flew out of my body and hovered in midair.

The golden scale inlaid on the bow emitted a bewitching light!

What shocked me even more was that, as the light of the golden scale spread downward, the sea surface below the cliff parted, revealing a stretch of sea about a meter wide.

The color of this sea area was much deeper than the surrounding water; countless vortices on its surface kept spinning, and the seawater rose at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The ground trembled slightly, as if an earthquake were coming!

I had a bad feeling and reached out to pull Li Qingying away from here.

But I couldn't even stretch out my hand; my mind was in chaos, and it seemed a powerful force beneath that sea surface was sucking me in, trying to drag me down to the seabed.

Just as the seawater was about to surge onto the cliff and sweep us away, a strong palm wind suddenly came from behind us, striking toward that expanse of water.

With a splash, the seawater fell back into In the Sea, and Feng Wu returned to my body.

The sea surface returned to calm.

It was as if none of that had just happened.

Li Qingying and I turned our heads at the same time and saw a familiar figure in black robes.

Although we couldn't see his face, Li Qingying and I immediately recognized the newcomer, and in unison we exclaimed, 'Xiaoye!'

Then Li Qingying knelt down.

Xiaoye gave me a slight nod as a greeting, then immediately questioned Li Qingying: 'If I'm not mistaken, tonight isn't the fifteenth, is it?'

Li Qingying immediately shook his head: 'No, Xiaoye, it's my mistake.'

'Trespassing into the forbidden grounds deserves punishment!'

Xiaoye unleashed a merciless palm strike, the palm wind ruthlessly striking Li Qingying's body, without a trace of old affection...