Jade Pearl Town, Deng Estate.
Deng Chicheng ordered the estate gates shut. No one was permitted to leave.
What had happened tonight was truly too terrifying... Even without Deng Chicheng's orders, none of the servants in the estate would have dared to go outside.
Everyone was waiting for Xie Xuanyi to return.
Yet they waited until dawn, and there was still not the slightest scrap of news.
"That youth looked no more than fifteen or sixteen. Can he really handle demons alone?"
"He's been gone so long... Could something have gone wrong?"
"I heard that not long ago, an immortal master passed through Jade Pearl Town, provoked Tu Fei and the others, and was skinned and eaten!"
Several servants gathered in a corner, whispering among themselves.
With a bang—
A heavy crash suddenly sounded outside, startling the servants.
"If you keep wagging your tongues, all of you can get out!"
Deng Baiyi had returned, her entire body radiating killing intent.
The entire estate immediately fell silent as cicadas in winter.
There were many loose ends to deal with tonight. Tu Fei was dead, and a pit had to be dug to dispose of the corpse.
Deng Baiyi arranged for the servants to get to work, then headed alone toward the main room. Without announcing herself, she pushed the door open and entered.
Just as expected, her father was packing his belongings.
Seeing his daughter return, Deng Chicheng let out a long breath of relief and hurriedly said, "Yi'er, you're back? Hurry and pack up. In a while, leave this place of turmoil with me!"
Several great demons had been stationed near Jade Pearl Town earlier.
If he fled, he would certainly have been discovered—and then eaten...
But things were different now.
That youth who had crawled out of the coffin possessed extraordinary combat strength. No matter how tonight's demon-slaying ended, at least no one would spare the attention to keep watch over him.
Now was precisely the best time to flee Jade Pearl Town.
"I'm not leaving."
After closing the door, Deng Baiyi shook her head and softly spoke three words.
"Not leaving?"
Deng Chicheng froze for a moment.
He anxiously said, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Shutting the Deng Estate gates had merely been a delaying tactic.
It was an attitude, as well as a way to observe the situation.
If that youth returned after successfully slaying the demons, he would not mind offering up gold and silver to spend money and avert disaster...
But what he feared was driving away the wolf only to let in the tiger!
The youth who slew great demons might be even harder to provoke, even more violent, than the great demons themselves!
No matter which one it was, Deng Chicheng could not afford to offend either.
Of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing was the best.
"Father..."
Deng Baiyi's expression was calmer than ever before.
She pulled over a wooden chair and sat before Deng Chicheng. "I know very clearly what I'm saying, and what I'm doing."
Deng Chicheng looked blankly at his daughter.
It seemed that ever since half a year ago, he had felt... that his daughter was somewhat different from before.
He could not say exactly what had changed.
Perhaps it was her spirit, perhaps it was her eyes. In any case, her entire temperament had undergone an earth-shattering transformation!
Deng Chicheng had gradually become unable to understand his daughter's absurd actions—
She had dug up a coffin from the wilderness!
Then, disregarding his objections, she had insisted on entering into a yin marriage with the "dead man" inside the coffin!
But what had happened tonight made him understand one thing.
Perhaps not everything his daughter had done was wrong.
If not for the youth who had crawled out of the coffin, the Deng Household would have been exterminated tonight!
"That 'dead man' will win."
Deng Baiyi gazed into her father's eyes and calmly said, "Choosing to run away would not be a wise move."
"He can kill even those demons... Wouldn't killing us be even easier?"
Deng Chicheng spoke without thinking.
That sword strike with which the youth had instantly slain Tu Fei had been too fast, too clean.
Even now, he still felt afraid, his whole body trembling beyond his control.
This was actually a perfectly normal reaction.
Anyone would feel fear in such a situation... Naturally, an ant feared a giant elephant, and the gap between him and Xie Xuanyi was even greater than that.
"If he wanted to kill us, he would have done so already."
Deng Baiyi continued calmly, "You fear death too much. That will only make it easier for you to die."
Deng Chicheng opened his mouth, only to realize he had no way to refute her.
"I know you've always been curious. Why did I bring back that coffin? Why did I enter into a yin marriage with a 'dead man'?"
Deng Baiyi smoothed the hair by her temples.
Sitting in the dim side room, she pondered for a long while before seriously saying, "I met someone. A very strange person—someone whose every utterance became prophecy, and every prophecy came true. That person said I would survive a great calamity and surely receive blessings afterward. That person said I would encounter a great opportunity... I wanted to gamble on it."
"I will stay here and wait for him to return."
Night gave way to dawn, and the gloom dispersed.
"Rustle, rustle."
In Jade Pearl Town, paper money drifted along the long street.
Xie Xuanyi carried Jiang Huang on his back as he slowly walked through the ruined little town.
Because he had been too heavy-handed back then, Jiang Huang's legs remained broken even now. Even after taking human form, she could not walk freely.
Besides that, the little girl's soul injuries were severe. After hastily speaking a few words, she had fallen asleep again... Xie Xuanyi had no real solution. He could only take off his outer robe, wrap her in it, and carry her on his back.
After several hours, he returned to this "old haunt."
Only then did Xie Xuanyi realize that Jade Pearl Town was truly a town steeped in yin energy.
This little town was practically no different from a dead town. Fallen leaves and paper money carpeted the long streets. Even under the rising sun, it still seemed gloomy and sinister.
No one ventured outside at all.
Most of the residences and estates had already fallen into ruin and desolation.
Yet every household had large red lanterns hanging outside its doors, and several homes had rows of paper effigies leaning outside.
Everywhere he looked was a bleak, gray-white scene that made one unwilling to linger.
Xie Xuanyi sighed softly, feeling only regret.
Perhaps it was because spiritual energy had run dry and cultivation was no longer possible.
Since Great Chu had chosen to recall the Garrison Envoys, it was tantamount to abandoning this territory.
Once the imperial court chose to abandon it, there was no reason for the common people to stubbornly hold their ground.
"I'm back."
Xie Xuanyi returned to the gates of the Deng Estate, placing a hand against the bronze doors as he spoke.
Naturally, this call was not to have someone open the gate.
With a dull thud, the bronze gate's bolt was shaken loose. Xie Xuanyi calmly stepped into the estate, watching the bustling grounds swiftly sink into utter silence, just as he had expected, along with the dozen or so fearful gazes cast upon him.
First, he reached out and brushed the dust from his clothes. Then he picked up a teacup from the stone table and took a light sip. Finally, he removed the little girl from his back, held her in his arms, and handed her to a pale-faced old maid, instructing the latter to take Jiang Huang to a guest room and change her into suitable clothes.
After doing all this—
Xie Xuanyi sat at the stone table, holding the teacup between his fingers and raising it above his head. He examined it as he quietly waited.
In the main room at the far end of the estate—
Hearing the commotion outside, Deng Baiyi leaned against the wooden door and took three deep breaths.
After calming the surging tide in her heart, Deng Baiyi took the initiative to push open the door. She sat opposite Xie Xuanyi and smiled. "You're back?"
Xie Xuanyi set down his teacup without saying anything. He merely smiled as well and looked at the woman.
Deng Baiyi lifted her chin, her gaze turning beyond the estate, and asked again, "Did you kill them all?"
"Of course."
Xie Xuanyi said blandly, "And you? Have you decided on your answer?"
Deng Baiyi did not answer that question directly.
"I decided long ago."
She looked straight into Xie Xuanyi's eyes and seriously asked, "It's just that I have one question. If I give you my answer, will you take me with you?"
"You should know that you have no bargaining power."
Xie Xuanyi took another sip of tea.
Though they had only spent half a night together, he had already seen through Deng Baiyi's calculations.
Born into chaotic times and stranded in the desolate lands of Northern Prefecture, a beautiful face like hers was instead a calamity.
Without someone to rely on, she could only become another person's plaything.
Tu Fei was dead, but there would be another after him.
This woman was no ordinary person. She dared to stake her household and her life on marrying a dead man, gambling that an absurd prophecy would come true.
Now, she had already won the first step of that gamble.
Of course Deng Baiyi knew she had no bargaining power.
But this might be the only opportunity she would have in her life... Before obtaining what she wanted, she needed to be a little braver.
"I want to leave this place."
Deng Baiyi stared directly into Xie Xuanyi's eyes and said word by word, "I don't need anything else. I only want 'freedom.' I don't want to be trapped in Northern Prefecture, to live by others' expressions, or to become someone else's plaything."
Her voice trembled slightly when she spoke those words.
But as she continued, her voice instead grew steadier.
"There is no true freedom. There are not many people in this world who can truly achieve the 'freedom' you speak of."
Xie Xuanyi glanced at her and calmly said, "If you merely want to leave Jade Pearl Town, you need not follow me. I can arrange a geomantically blessed place for the Deng Household. For the next twenty years, you will certainly not be troubled by demon calamities."
At these words, Deng Chicheng's eyes lit up.
How many people dreamed of leaving Northern Prefecture?
The frontier checkpoints were strictly guarded. If ordinary people wanted to head south and enter the pass "lawfully," they had to undergo layer after layer of review. Even the travel permit needed to cross the checkpoint was something the Deng Household could not obtain even if they exhausted all their wealth.
This was absolutely a great opportunity!
Yet Deng Baiyi's expression did not change in the slightest in the face of Xie Xuanyi's offered terms.
She merely shook her head lightly and spoke one sentence. "This... is not what I want."
That single sentence wiped the smile from Deng Chicheng's face, leaving him looking even worse than if he were crying.
"Then what do you want? What is this so-called freedom of yours?"
Xie Xuanyi smiled faintly.
In truth, his heart was clear as a mirror. He was merely deliberately refusing to puncture that final layer of window paper.
"Cultivation!"
Deng Baiyi spoke in a deep voice, every word ringing like iron, "I want to cultivate with you. If one day I have the chance, I too want to wield a flying sword, slay demons, and vanquish evil!"
Thanks to my good brother Zhihan for becoming a leader. Strongly recommend "Martial Man."
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