"Hey, I've told you so much already. Tell me a little about yourself."
Nine Nether flapped her wings and looked at Su Qing. "For example, aren't you and Mu Chen brothers? Why do you have different surnames?"
"Me?"
Su Qing thought for a moment, then slowly began telling his story.
"I'm adopted. Dad and Aunt Jing found me in a valley in the Northern Spiritual Realm."
"There was a sword and a piece of paper beside my swaddling clothes. The name I use now was written on it."
"I started cultivating at eleven, reached the peak of the Spirit Wheel Realm at thirteen, fell into the demonic path at fourteen, then dispersed all my cultivation. At fifteen, I started cultivating again."
Su Qing's tone was calm, as though he were recounting someone else's life.
"Now I'm seventeen years and nine months old, at the middle stage of the Divine Soul Realm."
"How did you fall into the demonic path back then?"
Nine Nether asked.
"I killed too much and indulged myself by continuing to kill. The baleful aura surged into my heart, and my spiritual energy ran wild."
Su Qing spoke indifferently.
"Huh? How old were you back then, to have already killed too much?"
Nine Nether looked at Su Qing skeptically.
"That year, I slaughtered three-quarters of the medium-sized adventurer teams on the Northern Spirit Plains. Almost all of those killings were without any reason."
Su Qing pressed his lips together.
"After that, I came to understand one thing. Violence is a necessary means, but meaningless slaughter will drag you into the abyss."
"I'm still someone who craves bloodshed, but I won't kill purely for amusement, or slaughter for slaughter's sake."
As he reached this point, a trace of killing intent unconsciously crept into Su Qing's voice.
The coldness within it made Nine Nether shiver despite herself.
"Forget it, forget it. Let's stop talking about this." Nine Nether waved her wings as though trying to fan away the chill.
"Speaking of which, why didn't I see your adoptive mother in the Northern Spiritual Realm?"
"-"
"Uh." Sensing that something was wrong with Su Qing's mood, Nine Nether asked cautiously.
"Did something happen? Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to."
Su Qing let out a long, quiet sigh and said,
"It's fine. The story behind it is just rather melodramatic, so I went quiet for a moment."
"In short, it's the story of a wealthy young lady and a poor country boy. Except one was a young lady of the Buddha Ancient Clan, and the other was a poor boy from the Northern Spiritual Realm, a backwater where even birds don't bother to shit."
Seeing Nine Nether's blank expression, Su Qing curled his lips.
"Surprised that those two managed to get together, aren't you?"
Su Qing sighed again.
"A terribly clichéd tale of a hero saving a beauty, brought together by chance and fate."
"Your family..."
Nine Nether felt an age-old gripe lodged in her chest, something she simply had to spit out, but in the end, she swallowed it back down.
"Ah..."
The two of them sighed in unison.
"You want to take her back to her sister."
Su Qing stared sharply at Mu Chen and Tang Qian'er, feeling rather impatient.
Good grief. I only took my eyes off you for an hour, and you've already cooked up this mess.
"Big brother..."
Beside them, Sun'er had just been about to step forward and wheedle Su Qing when he cut her off sharply.
"Stop. We're not close. I'm not your big brother."
"Big brother~"
Tang Qian'er called timidly from the side.
"Ah..."
I really don't know what to do with you.jpg
"Fine. If we're going to do a good deed, we might as well see it through. If you're escorting the Buddha, take him all the way west."
Su Qing rubbed the space between his brows helplessly.
"Hehehe."
Seeing that Su Qing had agreed, Tang Qian'er ran over with a grin and hugged him.
Su Qing ruffled her hair, then pushed her away. He walked over to Sun'er and asked softly,
"Which direction are your sister and the others in?"
"Mm."
Sun'er took out the Spirit Disk and glanced at it.
"Roughly northwest."
Su Qing considered it for a moment, then said,
"All right. I understand."
He stood up and extinguished the campfire with a turn of his hand. A gentle breeze swept away the traces of their meal, and he leaped onto a treetop.
His calm voice drifted down from the tree.
"Get some rest early. We'll set out tomorrow morning and take her to her sister."
"I'll keep watch tonight."
The other three had no objections. They leaped onto branches and settled down to sleep.
In a brightly lit camp among the trees, a bustling crowd relaxed around the campfires, chatting about the day's gains.
Beside the campfire at the center of the camp, a sinister-looking man rubbed his hands together and stared fixedly at the dancing flames.
Before long, a figure hurried to his side, bent down, and leaned close. "Boss, we've got news."
"Hmm?"
The sinister-looking man turned toward him and gestured for him to continue.
"We've confirmed that the person is Mu Chen. There are three others with him now, one man and two women."
"One of the girls should be the younger sister of Ye Qingling from the Ye Gang. We don't know who the other two are. They might be nobodies."
The man beside him delivered his report.
"What cultivation level is Mu Chen at now?"
The sinister-looking man fell silent for a moment, then asked, enunciating every word. The flickering firelight shone on the side of his face, revealing that his right ear was gone.
"The peak of the Spirit Wheel Realm."
The man replied.
"As for the other two, the man is at the middle stage of the Divine Soul Realm, and the woman is at the peak of the Spirit Wheel Realm."
"Ye Qingling's younger sister is a second-rank Spirit Array Master, but she has almost no combat experience. She's nothing to fear."
Hearing this news, the sinister-looking man lowered his head. A low laugh slipped from his lips, growing louder and louder.
At last, he abruptly raised his head, his eyes blazing. An exaggerated grin spread across his face as he rasped viciously,
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Mu Chen! So this day has finally come for you!"
With that, he reined in his smile and stared into the flames, lost in thought.
Before long, the sinister-looking man waved over a subordinate and gave him some instructions in a low voice.
Su Qing did not sleep all night.
Early the next morning, the others woke one after another. They washed briefly with the clean water Su Qing carried in the Sleeve Universe, then set out to find Sun'er's sister.
They sped along the entire way. Su Qing casually disposed of any small fry they encountered, so nothing delayed their journey.
Following the Spirit Disk in Sun'er's hands, they soon drew close to her sister's location.
"She should be just behind that thicket up ahead."
Sun'er checked the Spirit Disk in her hands and pointed excitedly at the thicket ahead.
At the thought of seeing the sister she had longed for day and night, Sun'er grew excited. Her steps took on a joyful bounce as she skipped toward it.
Occasional bursts of chatter came from the thicket ahead, making it sound lively and harmonious.
Yet Mu Chen felt that something was wrong. He frowned, but could not put his finger on it.
To be cautious, Mu Chen hurried forward and caught hold of Sun'er, then turned to look at Su Qing.
Su Qing raised his brows at Mu Chen, signaling to him: Your instincts are right.
Then he reached out, caught Tang Qian'er by the wrist, and pulled her behind him.
Seeing Su Qing and the others' unusual actions, the people lying in ambush within the thicket dropped their pretense. Several streaks of spiritual energy shot out, hurtling toward the group.