To Save, or Not to Save

After leaving Jade Pearl Town, things were peaceful, except for the continuous rain and snow, which made the road conditions a bit poor.

Deng Baiyi spent most of her time cultivating in seclusion inside the carriage. She had a good talent for cultivation, sensing the existence of "Primordial Qi" in less than a day. Although she couldn't compare to the top geniuses in the major sects, she would be considered above average anywhere.

In the past few days, she had been learning how to draw talismans, preserving the Primordial Qi she sensed onto the talisman paper.

Only when one can skillfully create talismans independently can they be considered a qualified Qi Refiner.

Jiang Huang, on the other hand, spent most of her time sleeping.

The Deng family didn't dare to ask too much about this girl Xie Xuanyi had picked up on his trip. Of course, they didn't think of her as a demon either. After all, this little girl was so cute, like a porcelain doll, and when she occasionally woke up, she looked like a foolish, pitiful thing.

Whether it was Deng Baiyi or anyone else, they all thought the child was born unlucky and had a rare disease. Everyone would take care of her when they had time.

Jiang Huang was no ordinary demon cultivator.

She was a Phoenix Blood Descendant of pure lineage! The difficulty of cultivating and transforming was dozens, even hundreds, of times greater than that of other demon spirits!

But once she successfully transformed, she would be no different from a normal human.

Unless she encountered a great cultivator with Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, using special treasures or special divine powers to observe her carefully, she would basically not be exposed.

In the past few days, Xie Xuanyi had gradually adapted to his body.

He could be sure.

This body was his own.

There was a kind of evil art in the cultivation world that could replace the physical body. As long as the caster retained a bit of divine sense, they could constantly replace the shell... At first, Xie Xuanyi was very worried that after he sank into the Northern Sea, he had encountered an evil cultivator and had his body replaced. Being "awakened" in this way was definitely not a good thing.

But now, his "resurrection" seemed to be a pure miracle!

After sinking into the Northern Sea, this body had not decayed or aged. Instead, it had returned to its peak youthful state, and its muscles had become fuller.

The injuries Xie Xuanyi had sustained from traversing the four realms and competing in swordsmanship had all healed and disappeared.

The few deep scars that had remained were now only faint white spots.

"Refining Qi, Divine Sense, Controlling Qi, Grotto-Heaven..."

Xie Xuanyi murmured softly.

He had also been cultivating these past few days. The strength of this new body was very high, but rebuilding his cultivation was not as fast as Xie Xuanyi had imagined.

He had only used half a day to go from Refining Qi to the Divine Sense realm back then!

But three days had passed.

The Primordial Qi of heaven and earth was still wandering outside his body. No matter how firm Xie Xuanyi's will was, the Primordial Qi refused to enter his skin. The two were separated by a chasm, like fire and water!

Now that he was alive again, cultivation had become much more difficult for no reason.

"Is there a problem with my cultivation method?"

The convoy stopped under a canopy of trees, and Xie Xuanyi leaned against a banyan tree, pondering silently.

After leaving Jade Pearl Town.

The Primordial Qi of heaven and earth gradually became richer.

Even a fledgling Qi Refiner like Deng Baiyi could perform the operation of mobilizing Primordial Qi and gradually integrating it into her body...

But why couldn't he merge with this Primordial Qi?

Xie Xuanyi stretched out his palm.

At the center of his palm, streams of snow-white Qi intertwined and converged. Under Xie Xuanyi's powerful divine sense manipulation, nearly a hundred strands of Primordial Qi gathered together.

This was a force to be reckoned with.

The condensation of this Primordial Qi meant that Xie Xuanyi's Divine Sense realm had not regressed. He could still control the wandering Primordial Qi in the world. He was still the young sword immortal who dominated the Great Chu!

But the current situation was really a bit awkward...

His body was like a sword sheath.

Inside the sheath, it was empty.

To return to his former realm, he needed to solidify the Primordial Qi bit by bit and turn it into a sword blade.

"The aptitude of this body should be higher than mine back then."

Xie Xuanyi couldn't understand it and rubbed his forehead in distress.

Just then, cries and calls for help rang out from the distant forest.

"Help—"

"Help!"

The sound came from far away and gradually approached.

For a moment, the convoy that had stopped to rest all listened attentively. From the other end of the forest, the sound of flames burning and the heavy sound of trees collapsing could be heard. Obviously, many people were gathering and approaching.

Deng Baiyi, who was quietly cultivating in the carriage, was disturbed by the noise and got out of the carriage, lifting the curtain.

She looked in the direction of the sound and asked coldly, "What's going on?"

The coachman looked very ugly: "Miss, it seems that someone is fighting ahead."

"A fight?"

Deng Baiyi frowned slightly. "After leaving Northern Prefecture, there shouldn't be any demon troubles..."

"Maybe it's bandits?"

Deng Chicheng sighed deeply.

These past few days, he had been praying daily, hoping the Bodhisattva would bless their journey to Qing Province with safety.

"It is bandits."

Xie Xuanyi stood up.

He raised his palm.

A wisp of Primordial Qi brought back the scene from a hundred zhang away.

This wisp of Primordial Qi spread like smoke, like a bronze mirror, unfolding before everyone—

In the dense forest, a caravan roughly the size of the Deng family's was being chased by bandits. The sounds of crying and clashing all stemmed from this.

Among this caravan, many of the family members were women.

In the most important central position of the caravan, one could vaguely see a very young woman in red robes, holding a tabby cat in her arms, her face full of tears, looking especially pitiful.

"Bandits?"

Seeing this scene, Deng Baiyi's eyes lit up.

She held a stack of talisman papers in her hand, the ink on them not yet dry. These were the Primordial Qi talismans she had been inscribing all night. Xie Xuanyi had only taught her two of the simplest talisman drawings so far: a "Silence Talisman," essential for travel, and a "Detonation Talisman," which could be used for attack.

Xie Xuanyi glanced at Deng Baiyi and asked, "What, you want to take action?"

Deng Baiyi coughed awkwardly, a little embarrassed.

Having just learned Qi Refining and talisman-making, she was indeed itching for a fight.

Seeing the victims in such a miserable state, she subconsciously wanted to help… and this was a good opportunity to practice on these bandits. After all, Xie Xuanyi was there to back her up.

"If you want to help, I won't stop you."

"But let me make one thing clear beforehand: you deal with the trouble you stir up yourself. If you can't handle it later, don't blame me for standing by."

Xie Xuanyi waved his hand, dispersing the wisp of Primordial Qi, got up, boarded the carriage, closed the curtains, and closed his eyes to rest.

The sounds of crying in the forest grew louder!

Clearly, the caravan being chased by bandits was "coincidentally" heading in this direction!

To save them, or not to save them?

Deng Baiyi instantly calmed down.

She quickly made a decision, not rushing forward with her talismans to "draw her sword and help," but instead beckoning everyone to quickly get on the carriages.

"Withdraw!"

The caravan quickly started up and drove onto the official road. The sounds of shouting in the woods were instantly left behind.

Further and further away.

Along the way, Deng Baiyi kept lifting the curtain, looking back to make sure there was no one following the caravan, before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

A long time passed.

She steadied her breathing and asked hesitantly, "There was something wrong with those people just now?"

Xie Xuanyi slowly opened his eyes. "You're not completely brainless after all."

"..."

Deng Baiyi was silent for a moment, then asked helplessly, "How did you see through it?"

Xie Xuanyi asked expressionlessly, "The official road from Northern Prefecture to Qing Province is seven hundred li. How many days have we been traveling?"

Deng Baiyi paused for a moment, then subconsciously said, "Three days."

Xie Xuanyi asked again, "In three days, how many people have we encountered?"

Deng Baiyi suddenly understood.

The journey had been smooth and unobstructed, with almost no pedestrians encountered.

The main reason was that the Great Chu Dynasty had abandoned the Jiayong Pass area several years ago, and Northern Prefecture had now completely become a desolate place.

With winter approaching, this area had almost become a no-man's-land.

If there really were bandits, why would they choose to set up camp here? And if they did set up camp here, who would they rob?

Deng Baiyi thought for a moment, then said, "I saw that the girl in the caravan earlier was good-looking, wearing pearl jewelry, and her clothes were made of high-quality silk… What if she was the daughter of a wealthy family, just passing through this place and encountering bad people?"

"Heh."

Xie Xuanyi rested his hands behind his head and said unpleasantly, "Why don't you look in the mirror?"

Deng Baiyi didn't catch the sarcasm in his words.

She obediently picked up the bronze mirror, looked at herself carefully, and then asked confusedly, "And then?"

This girl is sometimes clever, and sometimes really quite foolish.

Xie Xuanyi retorted, "After looking in the mirror, did you discover that you're actually quite pretty yourself?"

"You..."

Deng Baiyi's face flushed slightly.

She wasn't used to being praised by Xie Xuanyi and wasn't quite sure how to react.

But the next moment, she raised her elegant eyebrows, understanding the true meaning of his words.

"A wealthy family, a young lady of high birth, aren't you one yourself?"

Xie Xuanyi said quietly, "If you were traveling alone, would you bring so many female attendants? Either you'd travel alone, making it easier to get around, and the conditions on the road being a little worse wouldn't be too ostentatious, attracting bad people. Or you'd hire excellent escorts, passing through the territory in a grand manner, and wouldn't choose secluded, shady paths to rest."

That's it!

In fact, Deng Baiyi had also felt that something was a little off from the beginning.

But she had never really left Northern Prefecture and had no experience in the jianghu, so she didn't see the problem right away.

Now everything was clear.

Deng Baiyi smoothed the stray hairs at her temples and asked, troubled, "So...they're actually setting something up, acting? They're hoping for kind-hearted people to help? What are they after?"

"Not sure."

Xie Xuanyi wasn't too interested in this question.

He thought of some old events from the past.

He shook his head.

Xie Xuanyi said softly, "You only need to remember one thing: in Great Chu, demons are certainly terrifying, but those who deliberately plot to do evil are far more terrifying than demons."

Deng Baiyi silently kept these words in mind.

She couldn't help but look at Xie Xuanyi a few more times.

The identity of this mysterious white-clad youth, where he came from, and where he was going, had always been a mystery.

Along the way.

Deng Baiyi had asked Xie Xuanyi countless questions.

But about his background, his past...she never mentioned a word.

She could tell that these were things Xie Xuanyi didn't want to bring up.

If he didn't mention them, she naturally wouldn't ask.

Today's update times are 12 noon and 6 pm, I heard that this will make the tracking data better... If you don't mind, Panda will try it out for a bit.