Bai Zishan was indeed somewhat surprised by the Corpse-Wrapping Cloth Lu Mingyue took from her waist.
But...
He did not release his divine sense to examine it. He merely looked at Lu Mingyue, his reserved face full of confusion, and asked:
"They were both evil cultivators. You-you don't need to bury them."
Indeed!
These two evil cultivators had slaughtered people like scything hemp, and presumably there was no evil they would not commit. Why would Fairy Lu still collect the couple's bodies?
Meng Hai was likewise somewhat surprised, but out of gratitude to Lu Mingyue for saving his life, he said nothing more.
"Death wipes the slate clean. Besides, if we simply leave their bodies here and someone who knew the couple comes along, they would only need to examine the cause of death closely to realize that neither Brother Bai nor I have a high cultivation level. They might come after us!"
Lu Mingyue explained earnestly. This truly was one of her concerns, so there was not the slightest trace of evasiveness in her eyes.
"You're right." Even Bai Zishan harbored no suspicions. Instead, he inexplicably felt that he had been overthinking things.
It was only natural for a young girl like her to be cautious.
He, on the other hand, had been a little too wary.
"I'll bury them a little farther over."
Seeing that Bai Zishan had no objections, Lu Mingyue inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, then carried Guo Ding's body, bundled in the Corpse-Wrapping Cloth, several dozen meters away.
She did not deliberately go too far. Instead, she set the body down somewhere both Bai Zishan and Meng Hai could see, took another pouch from her waist, and pulled out a needle and thread. Rolling up her sleeves, she deftly stitched Guo Ding's head back onto his neck.
"It's been years since I last collected someone's remains..."
Doing this familiar work again, Lu Mingyue could not help feeling a little wistful. Suddenly, she caught sight of a hideous scar on her left forearm.
The scene from her nightmare appeared before her eyes. Lu Mingyue took a deep breath and reined in her jumbled thoughts.
Soon, Guo Ding's head had been stitched back on.
They had brought only enough water to drink on the journey, so naturally they had none to spare for washing Guo Ding's body. Lu Mingyue had no intention of doing so, either.
She merely needed a reasonable excuse to collect Guo Ding's remains, and then...
"Qi Refining Stage, Fifth Level, Yin Baleful Qi Condensation Art, Yellow Springs Nightmare, Yellow Springs Ghost Coffin, Fireball Technique."
Five lines of blood-red writing, each character the size of a chicken's egg, emerged on the Corpse-Wrapping Cloth. Since the cloth was still stained with blood that had flowed from Guo Ding's neck, the lines were inconspicuous. Only Lu Mingyue, who was close by, could see them.
Or rather, only Lu Mingyue, who had refined the Corpse-Wrapping Cloth into her own Life-Bound Magical Artifact, could see those five lines.
Almost the instant Lu Mingyue saw those five lines, the experiences of Guo Ding's short life flooded into her mind like flowers glimpsed from a galloping horse.
From a baby crying to be fed through his gradual growth, Guo Ding's family circumstances had never been particularly poor.
At least compared with Lu Mingyue, who had been abandoned as a child, Guo Ding, whose family lived in Yumen City, could be considered a wealthy young master.
Like Shen Yulang, Guo Ding had no innate spirit mansion.
But living in Yumen City near the frontier, the Guo family wanted Guo Ding to become a cultivator and have more choices.
Yet the secret method capable of opening a houtian spirit mansion was simply too precious. Despite all the Guo family's efforts to keep it secret, they still could not avoid being exterminated by a group of powerful foes.
Guo Ding had been sent away in advance as his family faced destruction.
Then, through a chance convergence of circumstances, an evil cultivator chose Guo Ding as his disciple.
That was how Guo Ding obtained the demonic cultivation art, [Yin Baleful Qi Condensation Art].
Afterward, the evil cultivator who had taken Guo Ding as his disciple failed to break through and died of old age in his cave abode. Having mastered his skills, Guo Ding returned to Yumen City with his third layer of qi refining cultivation and tortured to death every enemy who had slaughtered his lineage...
Since Guo Ding was avenging his family, the authorities did not intervene.
But bloodlust clouded his eyes, and he actually began using murder to cultivate demonic arts. The authorities could no longer sit idly by.
Thus, Guo Ding naturally found himself hunted by the authorities.
Just as Lu Mingyue had concluded long ago, although his third layer of qi refining cultivation qualified Guo Ding as a cultivator-
Yet!
Under wave after wave of pursuing constables and volleys of crossbow bolts, Guo Ding was wounded, and at one point even found himself on the brink of death.
Until Yang Qin, who would later become his Dao Companion, appeared!
Yang Qin likewise possessed third layer of qi refining cultivation. After appearing, she rescued Guo Ding and reached an agreement with Yumen City's authorities, handing over an Immortal Cultivation Technique in exchange for the cancellation of his arrest warrant.
The two were ordered never again to pass beyond Yumen City into the Great Ye Dynasty's territory. At most, they could stay briefly in the vicinity of Cangzhou Prefectural City, and each stay could last no longer than half a year!
Guo Ding was grateful to Yang Qin for saving his life. Moreover, after learning that this woman who had suddenly appeared shared his plight, the two naturally became Dao Companions.
From then on, the two began spending half a year living in Cangzhou Prefectural City, choosing suitable targets, then traveling with them and robbing them after leaving the pass.
Because both were meticulous, they usually waited until rogue cultivators beyond the pass targeted the caravans and escort agencies traveling with them, then struck while both sides were unprepared.
More often, however, they chose the rogue cultivators beyond the pass as their targets.
On the few occasions when they robbed and killed their traveling companions, they left no survivors, and they never stayed in Cangzhou Prefectural City for long.
Over the years, this had actually allowed both of them to successfully reach the Qi Refining Stage, Fifth Level!
Until just over ten days ago, when they were worrying over their lack of suitable targets, a young man in white approached them to ask about traveling beyond the pass...
"Phew!"
The images before her eyes continued all the way to the moment Bai Zishan's flying sword severed Guo Ding's head, but Lu Mingyue had already come out of it, and only two or three breaths had passed.
Thus, even Bai Zishan, who had been watching Lu Mingyue the whole time, did not notice what she had just experienced.
Lu Mingyue had likewise never expected that the young man in white, who appeared reserved, restrained, and somewhat shy around strangers, had actually been the one to approach Guo Ding and his wife!
That doesn't quite fit the way Bai Zishan presents himself...
With her back to Bai Zishan and Meng Hai, Lu Mingyue's eyes flickered, and her expression quickly returned to normal.
At the same time, Meng Hai also lowered his head and began tending the campfire before him, a trace of startled uncertainty flashing across his weathered face.
Just now, Bai Zishan had been watching Lu Mingyue.
He, meanwhile, had casually glanced at Young Master Bai, who had saved him.
After decades of licking blood from the edge of a blade, Meng Hai was far better than Lu Mingyue at reading people's eyes.
Thus, with just a glance, he noticed something amiss in that Young Master Bai's gaze.
That gaze... was just like the way the rogue cultivator he had encountered several years ago had looked at their Evergreen Escort Agency when setting his sights on them!
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