I Need To Find A Way To Make Her Love Me Again - Chapter 18

Yan Xingyu didn’t even have time to say that she didn’t need the Earth Spirit Crystal right now; the person had already departed on her sword.

Turning around, she saw rolling green hills and crystal clear waters everywhere. Liu Ruoni had taken her out of Qingding Mountain, but she didn’t know which mountain peak this was.

She thought about going south, but how long would it take to reach Wangjia Village? Yan Xingyu felt a dreadful headache coming on. All she could do was walk and see.

Unexpectedly, she still hadn’t reached Wangjia Village after several days. Being penniless, she could only forage for wild game on the road to satisfy her hunger, and Jiaoyu remained in a semi-conscious state.

The person and the fox finally arrived at a slightly larger town. Yan Xingyu walked through the city, scanning for places hiring temporary workers or people needing help to vanquish demons. She mused that she needed to find a way to earn some money to sustain their lives.

Walking hurriedly, she didn’t notice the strange looks cast upon her by the passersby. Seeing that the west entrance of the street was completely blocked, Yan Xingyu’s curiosity was piqued, so she went over to take a look.

The onlookers were clustered together. Yan Xingyu couldn’t squeeze in from the outside, so she had to stand on her tiptoes, craned her neck, and peered inside, hearing the people around her chatter and discuss in fragments.

“How could someone break into Qingding Mountain and kill the divine beast that has guarded them for generations?”

“Heavens, who is this person? So bold.”

“I don’t recognize them. Do any of you?”

The crowd was discussing nonstop. Yan Xingyu’s heart sank upon hearing this. Her stretched neck finally saw the conspicuous wanted poster pasted on the notice board. The image on it was her own.

“What the heck,” she muttered internally, “how did I become a wanted criminal?”

Just then, someone nearby with sharp eyes recognized her, comparing her appearance with the drawing on the poster. “The thief who killed the divine beast is here!” they shouted.

Instantly, all eyes focused on her. Yan Xingyu, holding the little fox, gave an awkward smile and said, “You must have the wrong person. How could a frail, weak girl like me kill a divine beast?”

“No mistake, it’s her! The poster also says she’s carrying a fox! Quickly, capture her and hand her over to Sect Leader Xu!”

“This is a reward of ten thousand gold! Don’t let her escape, everyone!”

Seeing the situation turn sour, Yan Xingyu turned and ran, pulling out a Profound Spirit Talisman to rapidly boost her spiritual power and hastily flying away on her sword. Fortunately, among the crowd of onlookers, there were only three to five true cultivators, the rest were ordinary citizens and couldn’t keep up with her.

Looking at the small tail following behind her, Yan Xingyu didn’t want to clash with them. Her spiritual power was unstable, and she couldn’t defeat them for the moment, so retreating was the best option.

Thanks to the boost from the Profound Spirit Talisman, her sword speed was extremely fast, leaving the pursuers far behind. Seeing a tall, rugged forest with many cliffs, she thought this place would offer concealment, so she flew down.

She quickly found a hidden small cave between the cliffs, swiftly flew in, rearranged the green vines clinging to the rock face to conceal the entrance more thoroughly, and hid cautiously to listen to the sounds outside.

“I just saw that woman come this way. Why is she gone?”

“Keep searching. She couldn’t have gone far. Brother Liang, go send a message to Qingding Mountain and tell them that the person Sect Leader Xu is looking for has appeared near Anshan.”

“Alright. Sect Leader Xu is really paying a heavy price this time, even offering a reward just for reporting the woman’s whereabouts.”

“Indeed. But someone who can kill a divine beast must be powerful. We shouldn’t act alone. Find her, surround and attack her together, and split the reward that’s the smart move.”

“Brother Zheng is right. I’ll go inform Qingding Mountain first. You all be careful.”

Yan Xingyu’s mind was in a turmoil, listening to the conversation outside. How did she become the person who killed the divine beast? How could she possibly kill the Huos Beast? How was this massive accusation placed upon her head?

Feeling dizzy, she realized the Sect Leader of Qingding Mountain was truly generous. Ten thousand gold! She was actually worth ten thousand gold! No wonder they all looked at her with wolfish eyes.

She had just been happy that Yi Rong wouldn’t pursue her anymore, allowing her to stop living a life of constant hiding, only to turn around and find a whole group of people chasing her now! Was she destined to live a life on the run?!

Yan Xingyu sighed helplessly. The people outside seemed to have left, but she didn’t dare to go out yet.

Seeing that there seemed to be a path further inside the cave, Yan Xingyu thought that since she couldn’t go out, she might as well see what was ahead. She stepped inside and found the cave to be unexpectedly deep.

Jiaoyu, who had been resting with her eyes closed, suddenly felt a surge of evil energy directly strike her heart. Startled, she opened her eyes and looked at the pitch-black cave. “Where is this?” she asked.

Yan Xingyu, seeing Jiaoyu wake up, said, “Little one, you’re finally awake. How do you feel? Are you okay?”

“Not well, but where is this?”

Jiaoyu looked around with vertical pupils. She instinctively felt this was not a good place; there was a sickening feeling that made her uncomfortable.

“I don’t know. Someone was chasing us, so I just found a random cave to hide in.”

“That’s terrible. You should have slept more. Why wake up?”

Jiaoyu scoffed, “You are truly good at finding places. You managed to find such an ominous and wicked spot.”

Yan Xingyu asked, “Ominous? How? I don’t notice anything.”

Jiaoyu didn’t say much. She turned her head and spat out a stream of fire, illuminating the path ahead and lighting the oil lamps hanging on the walls.

The full view inside the cave was revealed.

Carved on the stone walls were countless immortal maidens in flowing robes, all in different poses but sharing the same face, moth-like eyebrows, beautiful eyes, a gentle, flirtatious smile, looking at them.

The murals were intricately carved and lifelike. What they all had in common was that each immortal maiden held a cocoon.

Amidst the flickering, dim light, Yan Xingyu felt goosebumps rise all over her body, staring at the smiling faces surrounding her. Her heart felt creeped out.

She noticed that the cocoons on the stone wall looked very familiar. Looking closely, weren’t these the same cocoons that were hanging on Su E? Why were they here? She stepped forward, picked up her silver knife, and wanted to pry one open to see what was inside.

Jiaoyu read her intention and said, “You’d better not touch those cocoons.”

Before Yan Xingyu could ask why, a human voice suddenly emerged.

“The little fox is right, Miss. You’d better not touch these things.”

Seeing the man slowly emerge from the depths of the cave, still gently fanning himself with his pretentious paper fan, Yan Xingyu was surprised to recognize his face. “Young Sect Leader, why are you here?”

Jiang Yue’en was also quite surprised to encounter Yan Xingyu here. He said, “And why is Miss Yan here? This is not a good place.”

Indeed, anyone with eyes could tell this was not a good place, Yan Xingyu silently grumbled, but she said, “I wandered in by accident and was just about to leave.”

Jiang Yue’en replied, “I see. It seems the Little Palace Mistress is not with you?”

“No, we agreed to meet in Wangjia Village. I just can’t find the way now.”

“Wangjia Village? Then Miss Yan, you’ve taken the wrong path. It’s in the other direction.”

As Jiang Yue’en spoke, he took out a small paper figure, blew a breath onto it, and sent it onto Yan Xingyu’s shoulder. He smiled and said, “Miss Yan, if you don’t mind, let it guide you. This way, you won’t get lost.”

Yan Xingyu tilted her head, looking at the paper figure sitting on her shoulder and pointing outward. Feeling his good intentions, she said, “Thank you, Young Sect Leader.”

Seeing that he had no intention of leaving, she asked, “Young Sect Leader, aren’t you leaving?”

Jiang Yue’en looked up at the carvings on the stone wall and said, “I can’t leave. If I did, I wouldn’t know who is doing this wicked deed.”

“Miss Yan, if you ever encounter these cocoons again, do not touch them. They contain the heads of evil spirits. If even one is opened, it will directly summon all the evil spirits, and they are very difficult to deal with.”

“You can send someone to notify Yuanming Mountain, and I will come to handle them.”

Yan Xingyu took a sharp breath upon hearing this. She was so lucky she hadn’t opened one just now, or she would have brought trouble upon herself again.

So, she said goodbye to Jiang Yue’en and returned to the cave entrance. Hearing no other sounds outside, she followed the guidance of the little paper figure and flew out.

After hearing what he said, since the cocoons were so evil, she wondered why her aunt had deliberately taken those cocoons with her. Was it because a different personality had emerged at the time, causing her to do so?

Yan Xingyu fell into deep thought. Jiaoyu, seeing her preoccupied, looked back and said, “Didn’t you say someone was chasing us? Are those the people behind us?”

Yan Xingyu’s eyelids twitched upon hearing this. She turned her head and saw that, sure enough, those people were catching up. She replied speechlessly, “Yes.”

Jiaoyu said, “Then why aren’t you running faster?”

Yan Xingyu shakily took out another Profound Spirit Talisman, her heart full of tears. She only had the last two left, and this talisman cost a hundred gold every time it was used!

But seeing the people behind her about to catch up, she could only reluctantly use another one, putting all her effort into flying in the direction the little paper figure pointed.

However, the flaw of the Profound Spirit Talisman was its very short duration. Even though Yan Xingyu had flown very far, the group of cultivators behind her still caught up, forcing her to consider using the last one, which was truly painful.

She decided to land and fight them directly. Yan Xingyu was skilled with dual blades, but because she had to protect the little fox with one, her attack power was greatly reduced. Even though her strikes were tricky, she only managed to scratch the skin of a few people.

Seeing one of the cultivators’ long swords flash in a challenging pattern and attack her, she abandoned her blades, transforming them into a long whip and striking out. The sudden change caught them off guard, knocking two people down.

But this was still far from enough. Yan Xingyu realized this group of cultivators was harder to deal with than expected, so she could only steel her heart and use the last talisman to resolve the situation.

The others who had dodged the whip were about to pursue her when Yan Xingyu suddenly saw several people instantly freeze, as if rooted, unable to move. An invisible hand seemed to appear in the air, gripping them, and even choking their necks.

Looking at the flushed faces of the crowd before her, struggling and wailing non-stop, Yan Xingyu’s heart tightened. At the same time, a familiar female voice reached her ear.

“Xingyu, why did it take you so long to arrive?”