The two were escorted back under guard, watched along the way by many valley residents. Most of those gazes were cold, like frost congealing in winter.
After an unknown stretch of walking, the view suddenly opened up before them, revealing a building with a plaque that read Perching Cloud Ravine. Green vines covered its stone walls, blending it into its surroundings, and a faint fragrance of vegetation lingered around it.
When they entered the main hall, there was no one inside.
Zhongli Si sat down in a wooden chair, her fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest, her gaze wandering as she waited for something unknown.
A short while later, a young man strode in.
His features were handsome and refined, bearing some resemblance to Zhongli Si. At that moment, his gaze was fixed on the girl in the chair, his chest rising and falling slightly.
The young man kept his voice extremely low.
"A-Si, have you gone mad too?!"
Over the past two years, he had often felt as though his father and several of the Lineage elders had been replaced inside by different people, doing things that defied understanding and went against their ancestral teachings.
Had even his own younger sister become like this now?
"To keep A-Yu from being sacrificed to the divine flower, you actually tried to abduct people seeking medical treatment?"
The young man's gaze swept over Tang Yao and her companion before quickly withdrawing. His lips were pressed so tightly together that they had turned white.
"Were you planning to have this innocent person replace A-Yu as the sacrifice?"
Faced with this barrage of reprimands, Zhongli Si did not dare talk back. She lowered her head, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "Brother, they don't understand. As long as I can get A-Yu out and give her a way to live, I'll do anything afterward..."
"Or... let me be sacrificed in her place!"
Zhongli Si raised her head, her eyes full of stubbornness and reddened at the corners. "She's my best friend..."
But before the young man could speak, a deeper voice came from outside the door, accompanied by hurried footsteps.
A palm descended with a rush of wind, striking Zhongli Si hard across the face. A sharp smack echoed through the empty hall.
"You wretch!"
At the sight, Zhongli Yun immediately lowered his head and stepped aside.
The girl shuddered from the slap and staggered a step, then shakily sank to her knees, her head bowed, not daring to lift it. "Father."
The valley master stood with his hands behind his back, his chest heaving violently with anger and his head throbbing.
Had he not noticed something strange about Yun'er when he left just now, grown suspicious, and quietly followed him, he would never have known such a thing had happened.
"Only people from the valley may be sacrificed to the Fusang Flower. How could outsiders be allowed to sully it?!"
"This is a grave affront to the divine flower! And to the Medicine God!"
Every word seemed to be squeezed through the valley master's teeth. Then he looked at Tang Yao and her companion, who had been quietly eating melon. "How much did they hear?"
Zhongli Yun lowered his head and cupped his hands, answering steadily, "Probably... everything. But... please spare their lives, Father."
At those words, the corners of the valley master's mouth lifted slightly in a chilling smile, utterly devoid of warmth.
"Then they cannot be allowed to live."
As those words fell, synchronized footsteps abruptly sounded outside.
A large number of guards poured through the doors and surrounded Tang Yao and her companion, like an invisible spiderweb slowly tightening.
"Take them to the dungeon."
At the command, the black-clad guards began moving, roughly seizing the pair by the shoulders and forcibly pressing them down.
Tang Yao did not resist, allowing them to hold her.
Xiao Linyu was a different story. The more he resisted, the more disheveled he became. His robes were pulled into disarray, and his hair came loose, falling to his waist.
He gritted his teeth, blazing fury in his eyes.
"Do you know who I am?! I'm the young master of the Xiao Household! You..."
The valley master sneered, not taking his words seriously at all, his pity tinged with mockery.
"In all my years, I've never heard of any Xiao Household! You dare drag out some paltry little Lineage to puff yourself up?"
Those words completely enraged Xiao Linyu, and veins bulged on his forehead.
"When the Devil Cultivators attacked the cultivation world, the Xiao Household's contributions were indispensable!"
"What backwater mutt are you? Where were you skulking to cling to your miserable life during the war?!"
"And now you're here barking at the Xiao Household! Believe it or not, I'll blast this whole place apart with a sackful of talismans!"
After speaking, he turned angrily toward Tang Yao, his eyes filled with the message, "Boss, blow them up."
Because its master was so furious, his contracted beast, the Winged Python, also manifested beside him. Its enormous serpentine body arched upright, its scales gleaming with a dim light. It opened its mouth and hissed, baring ghastly white fangs at the surrounding guards.
But Xiao Linyu's words left everyone present utterly bewildered. They exchanged glances.
The valley master narrowed his eyes. "When did the Devil Cultivators attack? Why do I know nothing about it?"
Xiao Linyu was just about to launch into a torrent of abuse when Tang Yao reached out to stop him. Frowning, she slowly said, "My friend suffers from delusions, so we came here to seek treatment. May I ask what year of the Cultivation Calendar this is?"
Kneeling on the ground, Zhongli Si could not help muttering, "Looks like we've got two people with something wrong in their heads. They don't even know what year it is..."
Zhongli Yun also looked at the pair with a complicated expression. With a measure of pity, he answered her question.
"The year 2056 of the Cultivation Calendar."
Xiao Linyu's pupils instantly contracted. The fiery anger vanished from his eyes, and he slowly turned to look at Tang Yao.
Tang Yao's heart tightened. It was just as she had suspected.
Free and Unfettered Valley was no weak force. The cultivation world could not possibly have never heard of it. Meanwhile, the Xiao Household's wealth was renowned throughout the Eastern Continent. Even three-year-old children knew its name, so how could Free and Unfettered Valley not know it?
Unless the two did not exist in the same time and space.
Xiao Linyu swallowed with difficulty and murmured, "Three thousand years ago? Boss, can we still... can we get back?"
Tang Yao said nothing. She did not know what was happening either. Things had long since strayed from the original novel's plot and slipped out of her control.
The valley master, however, lit up at the sight of the Winged Python beside Xiao Linyu, looking somewhat excited. "A spirit beast is a treasure from head to toe..."
"The one with the contracted beast-send him to Osmanthus Cave. Take the other straight to the dungeon."
Xiao Linyu seemed ready to smash the already cracked pot. He snapped, "What are you planning? I'm warning you! I'd make it kill itself before letting you benefit!"
The valley master waved impatiently. "Then take both of them to the dungeon."
At that moment, a guard beside him said quietly, "The Medicine God has already driven that thing out of its senses, but it still refuses to cooperate when we draw its blood..."
"There are no beast tamers in the valley. Why not have this brat try?"
The valley master's eyes rolled as he looked down at Xiao Linyu.
"You're a beast cultivator? If you have a way to control that fellow, you'll have salvaged your life."
Xiao Linyu: "..."
Was that any different from killing him outright?
Tang Yao immediately gave him a look telling him to stay calm.
Receiving that look, Xiao Linyu drew a deep breath and steeled himself to answer, "I can try, but I have a condition!"
"Speak." The valley master did not expect Xiao Linyu to actually succeed, but he might as well treat a dead horse as though it were alive. If it worked, he stood to gain without losing anything. At worst, he could execute these two Foundation Establishment small fry afterward.
"I want her!" Xiao Linyu pointed at Tang Yao. "You can't lock her in the dungeon, or I won't try!"
"Fine." The valley master agreed without a moment's thought.
Could these two Foundation Establishment cultivators possibly escape from Free and Unfettered Valley?
Then he waved a hand, and the two were escorted away.
In a remote mountain cave outside the main hall, dampness filled the air, mingling with a heavy stench of blood that made one frown involuntarily.
The cave walls were built of rough stone. The farther they walked, the weaker the light became, barely illuminating the path beneath their feet.
The ground was uneven, and every step made a sticky sound. Finally, the two were shoved into a larger room, and with a click, the door was locked again.
Feeling the cold, sinister atmosphere around them, Xiao Linyu could not help shivering. If he croaked here, would he still exist three thousand years later?
Once again, he regretted going over to show off in front of Tang Yao. Xiao Linyu wished he could slap his past self twice.
Tang Yao glanced at Xiao Linyu's state, sighed softly, and silently studied their surroundings.
She had no intention of escaping. Even if they escaped, where could they go? They were three thousand years in the past now, unable to move an inch without difficulty.
Most importantly, was all of this virtual or real?
Were these people lingering shadows from three thousand years ago?
Or had they truly arrived three thousand years in the past?
The divine flower those people had mentioned should have been the Fusang Flower blooming in the secret realm earlier. That was why they had come here.
Just then, an infant's crying drifted over from afar, like the voice of a ghost. It sounded especially eerie in the still air, making their hearts tighten.
The cries were shrill, rising and falling, breaking off and resuming, as though coming from the depths of hell, carrying endless chill.
Xiao Linyu instinctively moved behind Tang Yao, somewhat flustered. "D-did you hear that?"
Tang Yao gave a hum of acknowledgment, concentrating to determine the direction, then slowly moved toward the source. Because it was so dim, she could only advance one step at a time.
Xiao Linyu: "?"
"No, wait! You... forget it, wait for me!"
He had not intended to follow Tang Yao, but staying here alone seemed even more hair-raising. He simply gritted his teeth and followed.
The cave was enormous, twisting and winding toward unknown destinations.
When Tang Yao finally reached the source of the sound, the faint light revealed a startling scene-
A group of people wearing the valley's clothing were beating a child, their fists and feet raining down without mercy.
The child was about three or four years old and curled up in a corner. His skin had a faint bluish-black tint, and his eyes shone bloody red, though it was unclear whether those were tears of blood.
He kept sobbing, his body trembling with pain. He was clearly in agony, yet he bit down hard on his lip without making much noise.
Sensing someone approaching, the child raised his head with difficulty. He looked at Tang Yao across a passageway, his red eyes bottomless, as though a soul had been gripped tight.
Tang Yao frowned. "What are you doing?"
Xiao Linyu stood silently behind Tang Yao and watched, not daring to speak at that moment.
Hearing her voice, the group all turned around, then spoke in an obscure, incomprehensible dialect as they confirmed something.
A short while later, apparently having finished confirming it, one of the taller men picked up the child and threw him at Xiao Linyu's feet.
Then the group turned and left the cave.