Exile Under the Storm

"Stop talking nonsense! Are you going to eat it or not?" Gu Yuena slammed the table and shouted.

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll eat it, okay?" Long Yuan gave up and picked up his chopsticks.

He took a mouthful, threw it into his mouth, and followed it with a sip of soup.

Of course, he wasn't stupid. Relying on his complete control over his body through his spiritual sense, he simply cut off his sense of taste.

As long as I can't taste anything, it won't be disgusting.

"Why aren't you eating?" Long Yuan asked while shoveling the food into his mouth.

Gu Yuena rested her chin on her hand, watching Long Yuan with a beaming smile. "You eat first. This is my heartfelt effort, so of course, you should eat more."

However, by the time Long Yuan had finished everything on the table, Gu Yuena's chopsticks were still lying beside her bowl.

"Huh? You finished it all?" Gu Yuena rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

The table looked exactly the same; the empty plates were still there, and Long Yuan had even finished that plate of charred remains.

"Burp—"

Long Yuan let out a satisfied belch and sat on the chair, looking content. "Mmm—thanks for the meal. As expected of my Na'er; even your cooking shows such wisdom."

"Wait!" Gu Yuena stood up, bracing her hands on the table. "You, Long Yuan! You clearly blocked your sense of taste, didn't you!"

Gu Yuena had finally realized it. As the Silver Dragon King, who was renowned for her spiritual power in the past, how could she not know about this application of spiritual power?

"Hehe, you caught me. That's right, I did block my sense of taste." Long Yuan tilted his head slightly and said as if it were only natural.

"Ahhh, I'm going to fight you!" Gu Yuena felt that all her "hard work" had been wasted by Long Yuan, and she rushed at him in a fit of anger.

Long Yuan took the opportunity to pull her in, and after a few rolls in the air, they landed precisely on the sofa.

"Hmm? Did I hear you right? You're going to fight me?" Long Yuan held both of Gu Yuena's wrists with one hand, pinning her to the sofa.

"Hmph! Who told you to..." Gu Yuena pouted.

"Stop right there!" Long Yuan said irritably. "I think you made this so disgusting on purpose. Even if you aren't exactly clever, you wouldn't be unable to cook a meal. Otherwise, wouldn't your trips to the cafeteria have been for nothing?"

With Gu Yuena's spiritual power, if she had wanted to learn, those few trips to the cafeteria would have been enough to "steal" all the techniques the chefs used.

Of course, she definitely wouldn't have learned the cafeteria lady's secret technique of shaking the ladle.

"Hmph! Who told you to dare to mock my great wisdom!" Gu Yuena muttered, but she stopped struggling.

She had only wanted to teach Long Yuan a lesson, but who would have thought he would so decisively cut off his sense of taste without even taking a single bite?

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Gu Yuena had already closed her eyes, prepared to be punished, but when she felt no movement on her backside, she peeked open one eye, only to find that Long Yuan seemed to have suddenly frozen.

"Hmph! How bold!" A chill flashed in Long Yuan's eyes, and a piercing Golden Light erupted from his gaze.

The next moment, a massive explosion echoed from afar, and the direction was none other than the Blacksmith Association.

One hour ago.

Inside that villa, Cao Chun pressed a human-skin mask onto his face and straightened his clothes.

From every angle, he now looked like an ordinary resident, not a wanted Evil Soul Master.

"Follow the plan. Regardless of who gets away first, we will wait in Linghai City for half a day, then head directly to the rendezvous point set by the master."

"Understood! Don't worry, Boss, I'll be careful," Pei Wen promised.

Cao Chun nodded. Having been on the run together for so many years, he knew that while his companion's cultivation might not match his own, his ability to escape was just as good.

He opened the window, and the torrential rain immediately poured in, soaking the expensive carpet and saturating the mottled bloodstains on it.

However, since this wasn't his villa anyway, he felt no pity.

Cao Chun climbed over the window and jumped into the alley outside the wall.

Pei Wen watched through the window as his boss's back disappeared into the curtain of rain.

As agreed, he would set off in one minute, leaving from the opposite direction. One would head northwest, the other northeast.

Pei Wen sighed, crouched down, and used his hand to close the eyes of the man at his feet—the owner of the villa. He had been drained of his soul by Cao Chun, so naturally, he died with his eyes wide open.

There was a trace of blood on the coffee table, and a dried blood scab on the man's head, caused by his out-of-control body slamming into the corner of the table.

The rain hit Pei Wen's face, and he was soaked through, but compared to the damp cold on his body, he felt a deeper sense of sorrow in his heart.

"Boss, when did you become like this?"

He recalled what Cao Chun used to be like. Back then, he was an optimistic person, while he himself was introverted and cowardly, often needing Cao Chun to comfort him.

At that time, Cao Chun was exactly who he dreamed of being: excellent, talkative, and cheerful. But after that, everything changed...

"What difference is there between you and us?" Pei Wen looked at the man, as if speaking to him or perhaps to himself.

"We are all just ants. A single wave can drown us. Boss said joining the Holy Spirit Cult could change our status, but so what? A Spirit Douluo is powerful, but above them are Title Douluos, above Title Douluos are Super Douluos, and above them are Limit Douluos..."

Pei Wen didn't continue, because the minute was up. It was time to go.

Without the slightest hesitation, he leaped into the rain and ran in the opposite direction.

Rain was a magical thing; one could feel the vastness of heaven and earth within it, but Pei Wen only felt like he couldn't breathe, as if the shadows around him were closing in to crush him.

The sound of rain echoed in his ears, yet it struck against his heart. His heartbeat gradually accelerated as four soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple—appeared at his sides. A pair of pitch-black wings tore through the fabric of his back, only to be instantly drenched by the downpour.

The next moment, with a flap of his wings, he pierced through the curtain of rain and soared toward the sky. Although flying in such weather was grueling, he had no other choice.

"Your Excellency Heavenly Phoenix! Those two have already left the target villa!"

"Very well. What are their specific movements?" Leng Yaozhu took a sip of tea and asked calmly.

Before her stood several specialized soul guidance screens, displaying the scene surrounding that very villa.

"One headed northeast, and the other went northwest."

Leng Yaozhu cast a glance at the screens. "Oh? They're bold enough to fly that high?"

"Shall we close the net now?"

"No rush. Continue monitoring. I will follow them in secret; who knows, we might just catch a big fish."

How could Cao Chun and Pei Wen have known that their supposedly perfect concealment had long been under the surveillance of the Spirit Pagoda?

If not for Leng Yaozhu's desire to fish for bigger prey, they would have been captured long ago.

Just as Pei Wen had said, he and Cao Chun were nothing but ants. Leng Yaozhu only needed to breathe, and a tidal wave would drown them.

The only reason they were still clinging to life was that Leng Yaozhu still had patience.

Nothing more.