"Just help me keep an eye on that girl in green."
Xu Taiping did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"All right."
Bai Yu nodded.
"The woman in green is standing beside a young girl in white. The others have scattered into the Red Maple Forest ahead. They seem to be preparing to hunt some demonic beast."
As though eager to show Xu Taiping his extraordinary eyesight, Bai Yu deliberately described the situation below in meticulous detail-which was precisely what Xu Taiping wanted to know.
Zi Jin really did come to Green Peak Gorge. Unless something unexpected happens, the demonic beast they're hunting should be that Tiger Demon.
Xu Taiping silently conjectured.
"Huh? Xu Taiping, how did you know there was a woman dressed in green in the forest below?"
Only then did Bai Yu suddenly catch on.
"Well, she's an older girl I met outside the mountain before. I heard her say she would be coming to Green Peak Gorge to hunt sometime around now."
Though Bai Yu had caught the hole in his story, Xu Taiping did not panic. He calmly made up an explanation.
"Oh? So you only pretended to come out with me to look for Yellow Sheep, and your real purpose was to see that girl in green?"
To Xu Taiping's surprise, however, Bai Yu did not get angry at being deceived. Instead, he questioned him with great interest.
"Brother Bai Yu, to tell you the truth, I really did come to look for Yellow Sheep, but I also wanted to see her."
Xu Taiping decided not to hide it any longer.
"Xu Taiping, don't tell me you've taken a fancy to that woman in green?"
Bai Yu suddenly chuckled as he asked.
"Huh?"
The abrupt leap in Bai Yu's thinking caught Xu Taiping completely off guard.
"How far have you two gotten? Have you held hands? Have you kissed? Or have you already... hehehe..."
Before Xu Taiping could work out an answer, Bai Yu fired off another string of questions that left his face flushed.
"B-Brother Bai Yu, Zi Jin and I are just friends..."
Xu Taiping stammered out a reply.
"Friends? When you human men like women, isn't it so you can hold hands and kiss them?"
Bai Yu was thoroughly baffled.
Xu Taiping was mortified.
Who on earth taught him all this? Uncle Bai? Impossible!
He grumbled inwardly.
"Roar!..."
Just as Xu Taiping was at a loss over how to answer Bai Yu's question, a tiger's roar suddenly rang out from the forest below.
Even at such a great distance, the roar still sent a chill through Xu Taiping.
"Oh? The one they're hunting is actually that tiger who likes keeping Tiger Wraiths."
Rather than being startled by the roar, Bai Yu made a teasing remark about the Tiger King.
"Brother Bai Yu, you know this Demon Tiger too?"
Xu Taiping raised his head and looked at Bai Yu curiously.
"I heard my father mention him before. Back then, this Northwind Tiger hadn't amounted to much, so the West Wind Pavilion left him alone. Now that they want to deal with him, they no longer have the strength and can only ask disciples from the mountain to come down and hunt him. But this fellow is exceptionally cunning, and he keeps five or six Tiger Wraiths under him, so he's been roaming free in these mountains all this time."
Bai Yu first answered casually, then immediately asked Xu Taiping with a wary expression:
"You're not asking me to help that little sweetheart of yours, are you?"
"Wh-who said she was my sweetheart?"
Bai Yu's sudden use of "sweetheart" startled Xu Taiping so badly that he trembled and nearly rolled off his back.
"Let me tell you plainly: all the Spirit Birds on Cloud Cottage Mountain have entered into Soul Contracts with the Azure Profound Sect. Unless our own safety is threatened or we have the sect's permission, we cannot interfere in conflicts within the mountains, even to help disciples of the Azure Profound Sect."
Bai Yu continued without waiting for a response.
"Brother Bai Yu, I'm not asking you to step in. I'm just a little worried about Zi Jin and wanted you to help me keep track of the battle below."
Xu Taiping answered honestly.
"I can do that, but I can't help you for nothing."
Bai Yu considered briefly, then nodded.
"I can pay you another ten Merit Coins, Brother Bai Yu."
Xu Taiping offered generously.
"I don't want Merit Coins."
Bai Yu shook his head, then a sly gleam appeared in his eyes as he said:
"But after you kiss that girl in green someday, you have to tell me about it. Tell me what it tastes like-whether it's sweet, whether it's fragrant."
Inside the Red Maple Forest.
"Rooar!..."
With a tiger's roar, a gale swept through the entire Red Maple Forest, sending maple leaves whirling across the sky.
"Buyu, let's hide first."
Liu Zijin took Lin Buyu's arm, stepped onto a maple leaf, and sprang into the air, landing lightly atop an enormous maple tree.
Unless someone looked closely, it would be difficult to spot the two of them.
From their elevated vantage point, Liu Zijin and Lin Buyu finally spotted the Demon Tiger and his two Tiger Wraiths fighting Lu Chen deep within the Red Maple Forest.
Since his main task was to lure the enemy in, Lu Chen spent most of the time fighting as he retreated. He rarely confronted the Demon Tiger or the Tiger Wraiths directly, instead relying on nimble footwork to dodge and harry them.
Clang!
The moment Lu Chen lured the Tiger Wraiths and the Demon Tiger to the agreed-upon spot, he abruptly drew the longsword at his waist. His body spun as he slashed at the two Tiger Wraiths.
Shing!
As the longsword swept out, streams of Sword Qi condensed from true essence struck the two Tiger Wraiths like spinning rings, carrying a metallic tremor.
Bam!
In an instant, several wounds deep enough to expose bone appeared on the two Tiger Wraiths, and the tremendous force within the Sword Qi sent them flying backward.
More importantly, unlike wounds from ordinary blades, these sword wounds carried pure Sword Qi. Not only could it travel along their meridians and injure their internal organs, it could also damage the Tiger Wraiths' yin souls.
"Aah!!..."
"Aah!"
The two Tiger Wraiths rolled across the ground in agony.
"No wonder Senior Sister said there was nothing a Sword Cultivator couldn't cut."
Lin Buyu, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly murmured expressionlessly.
"You're right, Junior Sister. Sword Cultivators have the greatest killing power, but the requirements for their cultivation are extremely demanding. They must carve open the qi mansion snow mountain, then condense several times the amount of true qi into a single strand of Sword Qi. Geniuses like Senior Brother Lu are few and far between."
Liu Zijin nodded.
Lin Buyu did not reply. She simply continued watching the scene before her with an unruffled gaze.
Liu Zijin surely had no idea that, inside Lin Buyu's sleeve, a strand of Sword Qi was circling her wrist like a swimming snake.
"Roar!!..."
Just then, the Demon Tiger's enormous body sprang out, crushing a swath of maple trees as he brought a paw down at Lu Chen, bearing three razor-sharp streaks of Claw-Shadow Gang Wind.
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