Page 47

Ning Ning rubbed her nose and nodded with her head bowed.

It seemed she really wasn't used to lying; rubbing her nose was a telltale sign of her feeling guilty.

He Zhizhou likely felt a bit awkward. As he walked toward the cave entrance, he stammered, "I'll go find Xu Ye, then. You two chat."

He slipped away as soon as he finished speaking. Rong Ci lifted his eyes to look at the equally flustered Ning Ning, a smile hidden in the depths of his gaze. "What is it? Did that Sword Cultivator who dislikes me so much leave?"

Ning Ning's ears turned red, and she sat down beside him slowly. "That's not the issue. I don't know what's wrong with Xu Ye either; he's been acting strange since this afternoon."

With the voices of He Zhizhou and Xu Ye gone, the cave became exceptionally quiet. Faint, dim light seeped in from outside, catching the tail end of the darkness; one could even hear the whimpering of the wind.

The Charm Cultivator in red had features as delicate as a painting, draped in a hazy crimson glow in the twilight. Even without saying a word, he could easily captivate anyone's heart.

Rong Ci watched her quietly for a moment before suddenly speaking, "It is my fault. Once my injuries improve, I will leave on my own tomorrow."

He spoke with indifference, his lips even curling into a faint arc, yet his expression was one of utter desolation.

Charm Cultivators were not tolerated by the righteous sects; they had always been the most lonely and misunderstood. Hearing this, Ning Ning furrowed her brows. After deliberating for a long while, she finally whispered, "Rong Ci, I'm sorry."

The youth didn't speak.

But inside, a small arc curled at the corner of his heart.

The fish had already taken the bait.

With his cultivation level, it was naturally impossible for him to be severely wounded by a Demonic Bear to this extent. He had intentionally gotten injured to get closer to the Heaven Heart Grass.

He had sensed the sudden burst of spiritual energy when the Heaven Heart Grass emerged and rushed over, arriving just in time to see the standoff between Ning Ning and Zou Wu. Rong Ci didn't have much chance of winning in a one-on-one fight; the best way to steal the Heaven Heart Grass from her side was to use a bitter-meat ploy to gain her trust.

He had first learned from their conversation that Ning Ning would go looking for the Zhuohuo Sunflower, then intentionally let the Demonic Bear scratch him so he could collapse in the sunflower patch and be brought back to the cave by her. By pretending to be helpless and pitiful, he could easily lead this simple-minded girl around by the nose.

As for now... although he still didn't know the whereabouts of the Heaven Heart Grass, the Tianhe Stone they mentioned was also an interesting treasure.

"I didn't know before that everyone held such hostility toward you all. But in my eyes, no path of cultivation is superior or inferior to another. You are no different from anyone else."

She spoke hesitantly, her voice very soft. "I... I believe in you."

Rong Ci's voice softened, sounding as if he were murmuring to himself, filled with a touch of bewilderment and shock. "Believe in me?"

"Actually, I was just discussing the Tianhe Stone with He Zhizhou."

Ning Ning gripped her sleeves tightly, as if it had taken great resolve to say these words. "We found a distribution map of the Tianhe Stone in the cave. He didn't want you to know, but... I believe you don't have any malicious intent toward us."

The youth in red lowered his lashes, his voice like the most mellow wine, silently laced with poison. "Tianhe Stone?"

"It is a Saint Grade treasure, just like the Heaven Heart Grass."

She smiled with complete guilelessness, her tone gentle and lacking the cold detachment others showed toward Charm Cultivators, as if she were simply chatting with an ordinary friend. "I heard it emits a light at the exact hour of the Xu Hour every day. As long as you can catch that beam of light, you can find it."

Rong Ci smiled again. "So you intend to go tonight?"

"Yeah, at Youlan Slope, not far from here."

Ning Ning propped her chin on her hand and glanced at the darkening sky. "He Zhizhou didn't want me to tell you, but since you're so heavily injured, there's no way you could compete with us for the Tianhe Stone anyway. He always overthinks things."

She yawned as she spoke, looking a bit sleepy, and asked him in a daze, "Rong Ci, where do you people from Niguang Island usually camp? You all seem so mysterious."

That was true; he certainly wouldn't be competing.

The youth in red pursed his lips and smiled silently, maintaining his obedient and fragile appearance, yet a trace of imperceptible ruthlessness flashed through the depths of his eyes.

He wouldn't make a move...

But the others from Niguang Island who had been in constant communication with him were not nearly as well-behaved.

Youlan Slope.

There were not many disciples from Niguang Island who had entered Xiaochong Mountain, but to intercept the Tianhe Stone, almost everyone had been deployed.

After nightfall, Youlan Slope was exceptionally quiet and chilling. The wild grass and tangled orchids swayed in the wind like shimmering white bones, and the shadows of the trees obscured the moonlight, leaving the darkness thick as ink.

With the Xu Hour approaching, everyone's nerves were stretched thin. Amidst the deathly silence, the sound of footsteps suddenly rang out, clear as day.

The leader, a minor head in green, exchanged glances with the others. Spiritual power surged around them, transforming into a violent yet invisible force that rushed straight toward the newcomer.

The person let out a roar, but to their surprise, it was not the voice of a young boy or girl, but the gruff tone of a grown man.

The leader in green realized something was wrong, reined in their killing intent, and looked up.

In the brightening moonlight, they finally saw the newcomer clearly.

It was not Ning Ning, nor was it He Zhizhou.

The man, his face full of rage, had thick brows and large eyes, and a burly frame. It was... Zou Wu of the Haoran Sect!

To piece together the true sequence of events, one must rewind time to this afternoon.

Back when Rong Ci had finished applying his medicine and fallen asleep.

"I'm telling you, Ning Ning, you really just left that Charm Cultivator behind?"

He Zhizhou clutched his Jinyu Furnace and used sound transmission: "He's good-looking, sure, but we don't know his background. What if that kid is a bad guy and has designs on the Heaven Heart Grass?"

To his surprise, Ning Ning smiled. "Friend, be confident. Drop the 'what if'."

He Zhizhou had eaten poisonous mushrooms, so his consciousness was already hazy. Hearing her say that out of the blue, he couldn't help but be stunned. "Huh?"

"Have you ever seen Infernal Affairs or The Bourne Identity?"