Ning Yuechan

"How should I address you?"

Gu Qingshan was genuinely curious. He turned to the woman in Golden Armor and asked.

The woman hesitated briefly, then said softly, "I'm Ning Yuechan."

As expected, it was her!

Ning Yuechan, renowned throughout the world. Ning Yuechan, the Heavenly Peak Holy Maiden. Ning Yuechan, whose talent was dazzling beyond compare.

The Dream Lover of every male cultivator: Ning Yuechan!

Ning Yuechan fell silent for a moment, waiting for the familiar cries of surprise, the burning gazes, and the embarrassingly loud vows.

Whenever she ran into young male cultivators, nearly all of them fell into the same routine.

Those male cultivators seemed to forget that Ning Yuechan was stronger than the vast majority of them. She hardly needed their eager protection.

But that was hardly their fault. The person standing before them was Ning Yuechan.

Gongsun Zhi waited a moment too, giving Gu Qingshan time to make his move.

After all, the other party had made the Earth Element Demonkin Legion withdraw, rescuing the two of them. They owed him for that.

But after waiting a while, they saw no movement from Gu Qingshan, heard no sound, and got no response.

Huh?

The two looked over in surprise, only to find Gu Qingshan standing there with a face as calm as still water, his thick brows nearly knitted together.

What an odd fellow, Ning Yuechan silently judged.

And it wasn't Gu Qingshan's fault. The scene before him was completely unexpected, and nothing like the history he knew.

He was completely lost in thought.

—How could these two, who were about to die, be together?

What had gone wrong in history?

None of the players, Gu Qingshan included, knew that these two had gathered together before their deaths.

According to the historical records, they had died far apart from each other.

But now, nothing matched.

Gu Qingshan was tense from head to toe.

Distorted history was full of unfathomably strange mysteries, and the shadow of death was closing in step by step.

The Earth Element Demonkin Legion had surrounded the two of them, which meant the Demon Army had found them again.

Gu Qingshan was bent on escaping with his life. Even if Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan let him go, he couldn't outrun them.

Then, when the Demon Army launched its assassination, the slightest misstep would get Gu Qingshan, a Qi Refining cultivator, killed.

What could he do to stay alive?

Gu Qingshan forced himself to calm down.

Saint Dao Sect and Heavenly Peak Sect were thousands of miles apart, and the two sects had little contact.

Gongsun Zhi was an elder, while Ning Yuechan was a rising star. According to the historical records, their lives had never intersected. They had never even met.

If that was the case, the two of them had likely gathered to carry out a military mission together.

Yes, that had to be it. They must have had some mission, or accomplished something.

It had to be extremely important for the Demon Army to send such a powerful force to scour the area for their whereabouts.

By tomorrow, Gongsun Zhi would die first—in his own large-scale defensive formation.

That meant he was deliberately drawing the Demon Army's attention, covering Ning Yuechan's retreat.

Ning Yuechan would die a day later, somewhere very close to the Human Race Highlands.

She would almost make it back to Human Race territory, only to be caught up with by the Five Great Demon Generals. She would fight them for a day and a night before falling.

For a day and a night, she wouldn't send back a single Communication Talisman, so no one would come to save her.

Gongsun Zhi would rather die than let Ning Yuechan be caught, yet she would be surrounded and killed, with no one coming to her aid until the end.

It was so bizarre that no one would believe it without knowing in advance.

And that was without even mentioning the other mystery—what had they done to make the Demon Army hunt them down so relentlessly?

In his previous life, those astonishing secrets had been buried in the river of history when they died.

But!

Still!

The place was wrong!

This place was nowhere near where they had died. Even if Gongsun Zhi hurried with all his strength, he couldn't reach the place where he was fated to die.

It was absurd. None of it made sense.

Wait.

A spark suddenly flashed through Gu Qingshan's mind.

"Greetings, Saintess." Gu Qingshan cupped his hands briefly and asked urgently, "When I was at the Military Camp, I saw the Faceless Giant and the Blood-Drinking Demon pass by. Were they pursuing you?"

Ning Yuechan had waited ages, only to get such a question. She couldn't help staring blankly.

With no time to think, she answered, "At first, they were right on our heels. Later, for some reason, they passed us by without crossing paths. So we changed direction and made our way here."

Gu Qingshan thought it over for a long time before finally understanding. He took out the blood-red jade tablet.

So that was really it.

The Demon Bird he had killed had been carrying the two of them's latest intelligence.

He had killed the Demon Bird and even burned its corpse, so the Faceless Giant hadn't received the latest directions to their location.

By a twist of fate, Gongsun Zhi and Ning Yuechan had escaped that pursuit.

That was why the two had strayed from their original fate and ended up here.

—So I was the cause.

He was like the butterfly flapping its wings, nudging history, which had already been set in stone, slightly off course.

Gu Qingshan shook his head with a bitter smile.

His cultivation was low to begin with. He had meant to avoid them and find a way to survive.

Fate was truly ironic. He never imagined that one intervention of his would change everything.

He had meant to stay away, yet now he had unexpectedly run into two legendary figures.

It was probably too late to leave now.

The fates of these two were all but sealed. Once they died, Gu Qingshan would be alone, with even less hope of escaping the Demon Army's pursuit and encirclement.

This was a dead end.

The moment he took out the blood-red jade tablet, Gongsun Zhi's expression changed.

He beckoned, took the jade tablet in his hand, and channeled his Spiritual Power into it.

An eerie, ghostly voice rang out from the tablet.

"Target continues moving south. Seven hundred and twenty-six east, ninety-four south. Orders: Faceless Giant, Blood-Drinking Legion, pursue with all your might."

Gongsun Zhi was a man of great intelligence. He thought it over briefly, then asked, "The Faceless Giant and the Blood-Drinking Demon were after us. So you killed the Messenger?"

"Purely by chance. When I ran into the Messenger, it was already wounded," Gu Qingshan answered truthfully.

Gongsun Zhi carefully inspected the tablet, then slowly let out a breath. "This tablet is real."

He looked toward Ning Yuechan.

Ning Yuechan nodded. "He's telling the truth. My spirit beast wounded the Messenger, but couldn't keep it from escaping."

Then she asked, "I see that you haven't yet reached Foundation Establishment. By rights, you couldn't possibly have caught up to the Demon Army's Messenger. How did you manage to stop it?"

Gu Qingshan patted the Military Bow. "I'm fond of using a bow, and have some skill with it. That's how I succeeded."

Seeing their doubtful expressions, Gu Qingshan knew he had to win their trust.

Gu Qingshan took out the Military Bow, nocked an arrow, raised his hand, and fired.

Chaotic Dance!

Rapid Shot!

The gray shadow became a streak of light, darting like a dragon and a snake.

Thunk!

A dozen arrows sounded as one, all sinking into the yin-yang carving on the roof of the Daoist temple.