Leaving the bustling city of Heyang, Li Xiaoyu headed west.
The farther west he went, the more desolate the land became.
The official road grew increasingly rugged, and people grew ever more scarce.
An air of grim desolation hung all around.
He was already near the border between the Divine Land and the Northwest Wilderness.
Several days later, a lone little city appeared in his sight.
That was Nameless City.
Compared with the grandeur and prosperity of Heyang City, Nameless City seemed especially run-down and bleak.
Its walls were low, their surfaces marked by the erosion of wind and sand.
Before he had even entered the city, Li Xiaoyu could feel a cold, deathly stillness shrouding it.
At the city gate, only two listless guards were dozing against the wall.
When they saw Li Xiaoyu, an unfamiliar outsider, they merely raised their eyelids lazily, then paid him no further attention.
Inside the city, the streets were empty, with scarcely a soul in sight.
Most of the shops lining either side were shut. The few that remained open had no customers to speak of.
An oppressive fear and despair hung over the entire city.
Li Xiaoyu furrowed his brow. He knew the situation here was worse than he had imagined.
He found an inn that looked reasonably clean and went inside.
There was only one person in the inn: the frowning, sorrowful-looking proprietor, past middle age, hunched over the counter as he worked his abacus.
When he saw a guest enter, the proprietor started in surprise, then slowly got to his feet.
"Will you be staying for a meal or lodging for the night, sir?"
His voice was weak and weary.
"I'd like a room."
Li Xiaoyu took a silver ingot from his robes and set it on the counter.
Only when he saw the silver did the proprietor's eyes brighten a little.
The proprietor pocketed the money and lowered his voice as he warned him.
"Take it from me: Nameless City isn't a safe place these days. If you've got no urgent business here, you'd best leave at once."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
Li Xiaoyu asked, feigning ignorance.
The proprietor sighed. Seeing no one else around, he leaned close to Li Xiaoyu's ear and whispered:
"Monsters are on the loose!"
"There's a Nameless Cave ten li outside the city. Lately, no one knows what's gotten into it, but strange things have been happening!"
"At first, cattle and sheep in the city started vanishing for no reason. Then people began disappearing!"
"A few days ago, Butcher Zhang's son got drunk one night and insisted on leaving the city. He never came back. The next day, someone found just one of his shoes at the mouth of Nameless Cave!"
As the proprietor spoke, extreme terror spread across his face.
"The authorities sent constables to investigate, but not a single one who went inside came back out! Later, two immortal masters sent from Green Cloud Mountain met their end in there, too!"
"Now, as soon as night falls, the outskirts of the city ring with ghostly wails. It's enough to scare anyone to death! We common folk don't even dare step outside after dark!"
Li Xiaoyu listened in silence, already forming a rough judgment.
If even two Qingyun Disciples at the third layer of the Jade Purity Realm had entered and never returned, then the monster in that cave was surely no weakling.
"Thank you for telling me, innkeeper."
Li Xiaoyu nodded, his expression unchanged.
"Give me a first-class room, and prepare some food and wine."
Seeing that he had listened to all this without so much as changing his expression, the proprietor thought more highly of him. Assuming he was a capable cultivator, he said no more and respectfully arranged a room for him.
Li Xiaoyu ate a little in his room, then went out again.
He wanted to see Nameless Cave for himself.
By then, dusk was near.
The setting sun's afterglow dyed all of Nameless City in an eerie shade of blood.
Li Xiaoyu walked along the deserted street toward the city's outskirts.
Just as he was about to leave through the city gate, he suddenly stopped.
He sensed an alluring yet dangerous presence coming from the shadow beneath the nearby city wall.
He slowly turned his head.
In the shadows, a slender figure had appeared at some point.
It was a woman.
She wore a gorgeous purple dress that accentuated her graceful, alluring curves.
Her features were bewitching, her eyes glimmering as they shifted, and a faint smile played at the corner of her lips.
Her beauty was intoxicating, as though it could ensnare a person's soul.
But the instant Li Xiaoyu saw her, his guard shot to its highest level.
He sensed a surge of Spiritual Energy from the woman, different from the Green Cloud Sect's techniques and steeped in a sinister, mysterious femininity.
The seventh layer of the Jade Purity Realm!
And she was from the Demon Sect!
The woman seemed surprised that her presence had been detected.
She slowly emerged from the shadows, her bewitching eyes appraising Li Xiaoyu with interest.
"Hehehe."
She let out a string of coquettish laughter, her voice so sweet it seemed to seep into his bones.
"Such sharp senses, young man. I'm Jin Ping'er of the Joyous Union Sect. May I ask what sect you belong to, and what brings you to this godforsaken place?"
The Joyous Union Sect!
Jin Ping'er!
Li Xiaoyu's heart sank.
One of the Four Major Demonic Sects—the Joyous Union Sect!
He had heard that name before.
Jin Ping'er was said to be the most outstanding disciple of the Young Generation in the Joyous Union Sect.
He had never expected the strange happenings at Nameless Cave to draw someone of her stature.
It seemed the truth behind this matter was far more complicated than he had imagined.
Li Xiaoyu remained calm and cupped his hands to Jin Ping'er, neither servile nor arrogant.
"Green Cloud Sect, Li Xiaoyu."
"So you're an Esteemed Disciple of the Green Cloud Sect. My apologies, my apologies."
Jin Ping'er's eyes shifted, and her smile deepened.
"From the look of you, Young Master Li, you've come for Nameless Cave too, haven't you?"
"Wonderful. I'm interested in what's inside as well. Why don't we go together? We could watch each other's backs. What do you say?"
Her words were full of temptation.
But Li Xiaoyu could sense the deadly danger hidden beneath her alluring smile.
To make common cause with a tiger was no different from seeking one's own doom.
The last ray of the setting sun vanished below the horizon.
Night fell in earnest.
On the city wall, Li Xiaoyu and Jin Ping'er faced each other from a distance, the atmosphere growing subtle and tense.
At Jin Ping'er's invitation, alarm bells rang in Li Xiaoyu's mind.
The demonesses of the Joyous Union Sect were renowned throughout the world for their Charm Arts, killing without a trace.
Traveling with her would be no different from exposing his back to a venomous snake's fangs.
He kept his expression unchanged and said, "The righteous and the demonic cannot coexist; those who follow different paths cannot work together. I appreciate your kindness, Miss Jin."
His refusal was crisp and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.
The smile on Jin Ping'er's face faltered.
She hadn't expected this young Green Cloud Disciple to be so impervious to her charms.
Other righteous cultivators, faced with an invitation from a peerless beauty like her, would at least have offered a few polite words, even if they were unwilling.
But he had rejected her outright.
"Hehehe, Young Master Li, you really are a man of honor."
Jin Ping'er covered her mouth as she giggled, though a chill flickered in her bewitching eyes.
"Still, Nameless Cave is no safe place. Aren't you afraid that if you go in alone, those little creatures will make a meal of you?"
As she spoke, Jin Ping'er slowly approached Li Xiaoyu.
Her steps were light and unhurried, each one seeming to fall in time with a person's heartbeat.
A strange fragrance wafted from her and drifted toward Li Xiaoyu.
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