The tremendous commotion in the desert naturally alerted Ning Xiaoxiao, who had been sending little sand rats to keep watch there.
Although Ning Ke had told her to hide and stay away from the desert,
she had endured half a year of waiting. Now, hearing that the Underground Palace had resurfaced and that the sand rats had spotted someone who looked like Lou Yunxiao,
she immediately rushed toward the Underground Palace.
The other disciples followed her.
After traveling at full speed through the pouring rain for five days, Ning Xiaoxiao spotted the ruined Underground Palace in the distance.
She raced over, her gaze falling on the man who had been sitting before the stone tablet for who knew how long.
The Pale Silver Sword and Red Cloud hovered over his head to shelter him from the rain, but they could not conceal his wretched state.
"Senior brother!"
Ning Xiaoxiao had barely asked, "Where's my brother?" when she noticed the person Lou Yunxiao held tightly in his arms.
His white robes had been stained red with blood, then washed pale pink by the rain.
They made the young man's deathly pallor all the more stark. There was not a trace of life in him.
It was her brother.
It was Ning Ke, who had smiled and stroked her head as he promised to reunite with her.
Zhuang Yusheng arrived as well.
At the sight, he froze.
For a moment, he did not know what to do.
Noticing their arrival, Lou Yunxiao merely raised his eyes.
Those eyes, gray-blue before he had lost his sight, were now the dark red of a demon's.
"You're here."
His voice was hoarse, worn as that of an old man nearing the end of his life.
He stroked Ning Ke's face and said, "A Ke, our