A kiss

A faint light shone in the distance. Ning Ke looked up and saw the Pale Silver Sword speeding toward him with a young man on its back.

Hum-

When Pale Silver saw Ning Ke, it stopped and lowered the young man to the ground.

Lou Yunxiao had quietly given the disciple medicine to stop the bleeding.

So, despite the damage to all his internal organs, the disciple still had a breath left in him and had clung to life until now.

Ning Ke hurriedly fed the disciple medicine to sustain his life.

He barely managed to steady the disciple's breathing, but whether he would wake up remained uncertain.

Ning Ke asked the Pale Silver Sword, "Where's your master?"

The Pale Silver Sword pointed its tip east.

Ning Ke nodded.

He hoisted the disciple onto his back and retraced his steps, finding Ning Xiaoxiao not far away and asking her to take him back.

Then he followed the Pale Silver Sword east.

This time, Ning Xiaoxiao watched him leave without saying a word.

Seeing how pale she was, the little sand rat couldn't help saying, "Little girl, don't worry. Your brother is very powerful. He won't be in danger!"

The python had told him not to reveal to Ning Xiaoxiao that Ning Ke was an avatar of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

But he couldn't bear to see the girl so worried, so he comforted her this way.

"...Mm, I know. My brother is very powerful, and so is Eldest Senior Brother." Ning Xiaoxiao tried hard to smile, but her eyes were still red.

She turned, clenched her jaw, and kept going.

Yet her determination to grow stronger only deepened.

I can only hide behind other people's protection. I can't do anything myself.

What kind of immortality am I cultivating? What path am I pursuing?

Someday.

Ning Xiaoxiao silently made up her mind.

Someday, I'll be strong enough to protect everyone.

"Is this the place?"

Ning Ke narrowed his eyes and, with the Red Cloud Sword in hand, slashed open the ground.

Without hesitation, he descended underground.

He stopped before the underground palace.

As soon as he arrived, he instinctively surveyed his surroundings.

His understanding of talismans and array formations had already reached a considerably high level.

Naturally, he could see that the underground palace itself was an enormous array.

More precisely, Heaven's Way's seal used the underground palace as its foundation and the stone tablet as the array's core, combining an array formation with sealing runes to imprison the Great Demon here.

Demonic beasts and humans could come and go, but the Demon alone could not leave.

In other words, as long as he could get Lou Yunxiao to the surface, the Demon would no longer be able to do anything to him.

"What rat is it this time?"

Deep within the underground palace, the Demon leaned wearily against his bed, his aura no longer anywhere near as powerful as before.

He hadn't expected turning Lou Yunxiao into a Living Dead to consume so much of his demonic energy. Rolling over, he closed his eyes and said, "I need to sleep for a while. Go catch that rat for me and keep it in the side hall. I'll enjoy it when I wake."

Dressed entirely in black, Lou Yunxiao wore no expression, but his tone was utterly loyal.

He replied, "As you command, Master."

Then he turned and left the bedchamber.

At the same time, Ning Ke pushed open the underground palace's main doors.

The two came face-to-face.

Ning Ke froze for a moment.

The Pale Silver Sword hummed and rushed toward Lou Yunxiao.

It circled Lou Yunxiao joyfully.

"Senior Brother..."

At that moment, the anxiety hanging over Ning Ke's heart finally eased.

Looking at Lou Yunxiao's tall, elegant figure, his eyes instantly reddened. He had never been one to cry, yet now, unusually overcome with emotion, he rushed up to Lou Yunxiao.

He threw his arms around him.

"Senior Brother, I'm so glad you're all right."

But only when he held Lou Yunxiao like this did Ning Ke realize.

Lou Yunxiao had no heartbeat.

His body was colder than before, too.

"You're a rat." Pain shot through Ning Ke's wrist. When he looked, he saw that Lou Yunxiao had grabbed it. Lou Yunxiao dragged him into the side hall and flung him into a pile of bones.

The next moment, a chain appeared in Lou Yunxiao's hand, and he walked toward him.

He recited, "My task is to catch rats."

"So I have to catch you."

"?"

"???"

This dramatic turn of events made Ning Ke's fox eyes widen in shock.

For a moment, he couldn't tell whether something was wrong with his own head or Lou Yunxiao's.

[Host, Lou Yunxiao's heart was destroyed. He should have died, but that Demon used a method to turn him into the Living Dead,] Xiao Yuan explained.

[Because he died once, his memories have become confused. All he knows is how to receive the Demon's orders. He's become something like a puppet.]

[That Demon is his master now. He must have told him you're a rat and ordered him to catch you.]

Ning Ke wondered, Why didn't that Demon come himself?

[The Demon expended a great deal of energy turning him into the Living Dead. He's sleeping now.]

Hearing this, Ning Ke breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, Ning Xiaoxiao had already told him how formidable that Demon was.

His oppressive aura alone could make the legs of a Golden Core cultivator go weak. He had probably reached the Mahayana Stage.

He was an existence this single tail of Ning Ke's could not hope to challenge.

Now that the Demon was asleep, Ning Ke could not only save Lou Yunxiao but also complete the task Xiao Yuan had given him-investigate the stone tablet.

But Lou Yunxiao's current condition...

He asked Xiao Yuan, How... did Lou Yunxiao die?

Xiao Yuan couldn't predict the future, but he could examine events that had happened recently.

After considering for a moment, he told Ning Ke what had happened.

He merely stated the facts, yet Ning Ke's expression darkened little by little.

He could imagine Lou Yunxiao's pain and regret at the time.

And his profound helplessness and... despair.

Suicide.

To stop himself from hurting his own kind, he had chosen suicide without a moment's hesitation...

"You fool." Ning Ke's throat tightened. He reached out, not even caring that he was bound by the chain.

He gently stroked Lou Yunxiao's pale face and said, "I failed to keep my promise to watch over you. That's why you hurt someone. It's my fault."

"And you saved that disciple. He didn't die."

"You've already done well. So very well."

Lou Yunxiao paused, slightly startled.

He crouched on the ground, letting Ning Ke stroke his face.

Their foreheads rested together.

For some reason, the feeling seemed familiar to him.

So wonderful.

He even wanted more.

More...

With that thought, he suddenly tilted his head and kissed Ning Ke's lips-