His crying, surprisingly rhythmic with Xia Xianning’s movements, made Luo Yingbai laugh.
After laughing, he realized his mistake and looked up to meet Xia Xianning’s cold stare.
Xia Xianning: “You’re distracted?”
Luo Yingbai: “…I-I-I’m sorry. Um, Xianning, isn’t it about time?”
Xia Xianning leisurely: “Not yet. Focus.”
A talisman suddenly flew from the bed’s direction, slapping onto the basket. Suntu immediately felt drowsiness overcome him. After a brief struggle, he drifted into a deep sleep.
He thought for a moment, then returned along the same path, rushing forward, and indeed saw the woman’s back in the night again. Zhu Caiwei took a detour to prevent being followed. If Xia Xianning had rashly followed her, he would have either been discovered or completely lost her.
Zhu Caiwei circled around and finally stopped at a slope.
She pushed aside the grass in front of her, revealing a naturally formed cave entrance at a lower position. Zhu Caiwei bent down and entered.
Xia Xianning observed that after entering the cave, there was a wide straight path with no cover on either side, making it difficult to hide.
At this point, he almost thought the other party had noticed his pursuit and deliberately led him to this place. Both sides were wary and suspicious, and it was unclear who was plotting against whom. Xia Xianning hesitated briefly before deciding to go in and see what was happening.
He cautiously took out a sound transmission talisman and gripped it in his hand, adjusting the sword hilt to the most easily reachable position, and quietly followed inside. The air was stagnant, and a nauseating stench was released.
Zhu Caiwei walked to a place and suddenly stopped without warning. Xia Xianning also stopped, seeing her speak to a wall: “Sundadan, it’s time to eat.” The name “Sundadan” surprised Xia Xianning – he had just seen this person during the day.
Recalling the other party’s demeanor and Zhu Caiwei’s tone, Xia Xianning suddenly realized that the apparent tribal leader of the Chiqiong tribe was most likely not the real Sundadan, but a puppet found by Zhu Caiwei. The Yin-Yang Bowl circulates yin and yang, life and death continuing, and the life force within can temporarily reshape a person’s appearance.
However, if there is only the yin bowl without the yang bowl, the life force will eventually dry up. Perhaps this is the reason why Zhu Caiwei must obtain such a magical artifact.
Xia Xianning looked in the direction she was speaking and after a while, discovered that opposite her was not a wall, but an iron cage embedded in the wall. There was a blurry human figure inside, which should be the real Sundadan.
Zhu Caiwei remained calm and said softly: “I know you don’t want to talk to me, but since you can see me here, you should understand what this means. You no longer have any value. If you don’t cooperate with me, your son will also die.”
After a while, Sundadan’s voice rang out, surprisingly identical to the voice of the fake tribal leader Xia Xianning had heard: “Sixty years, three months, and twenty-two days. Now there are exactly seven months left. What do you want to do?”
Zhu Caiwei said pensively: “I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ve decided to change the date. Four days from now would be good. Finding you now is just in time. Give me your hand.”
Their conversation seemed nonsensical, but it vaguely suggested that Zhu Caiwei was using Sundadan’s two children, Ran Hui and Ran Tu, to threaten the tribal leader.
Her stay at the Meng Hill was waiting for some opportunity, and now she was planning to change the already set date.
Two questions arose: first, what did Zhu Caiwei want to do at that time, and second, why did she want to change the timing?
Xia Xianning did not believe the reason was his sudden arrival. After all, Zhu Caiwei had waited so long without leaving, and given her personality, she would not easily give up just because Xia Xianning had come.
While pondering Zhu Caiwei’s intentions, Xia Xianning observed their interaction. In the darkness, Zhu Caiwei approached Sundadan and seemed to be combing Sundadan’s hair.
Surprised, Xia Xianning tightened the sound transmission talisman in his hand. He saw Zhu Caiwei manipulating Sundadan’s head and face. Sundadan struggled several times but failed, and then quickly became motionless, collapsing softly to the ground.
Xia Xianning’s expression tightened, and the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to shake. At first, he thought it was an earthquake, but then it stopped. Zhu Caiwei stood up in a panic and hurriedly walked outside.
Sundadan lay motionless on the ground. After a brief hesitation, Xia Xianning quietly followed. Zhu Caiwei seemed somewhat flustered.
In this place, besides himself and Luo Mingbai, who else could make her so wary?
Xia Xianning thought of a person.
He stopped at the cave entrance. Not far away, a man and a woman stood face to face. The man’s face was turned towards Xia Xianning – it was Ge Panming’s true appearance that Luo Mingbai had seen before.
Xia Xianning had never seen him and could roughly guess the situation, quietly watching from the side.
Zhu Caiwei’s voice was slightly joyful: “Panming, you came to find me?”
Ge Panming looked into the distance, his voice cold: “What are you doing here?”
Zhu Caiwei remained composed: “I’m checking on Sundadan. Today, Xia Xianning actually found this place in the Meng Hill. I’ve never felt completely at ease.”
Ge Panming’s face showed a hint of mockery: “Xia Xianning could find this place because you sent someone to the Changliu Sect in advance. I don’t like to argue with women. But with Sundadan already replaced by a puppet, if you hadn’t come, Xia Xianning wouldn’t have known. By coming, he might trace his way here. Are you worried, or are you sending a message?”
He hit the nail on the head with this remark, making it hard to tell whether he was mocking Zhu Caiwei’s low intelligence or genuinely suspecting her collusion with Xia Xianning.
However, having witnessed the scene in the cave earlier, Xia Xianning felt that Zhu Caiwei was hiding something from Ge Panming and could no longer wait.
There was no real unity between these two, and Ge Panming’s tone and expression showed no sign of liking Zhu Caiwei.
Zhu Caiwei said, “Don’t say such angry words. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have left Changliu Sect at all. Now that Xia Xianning is here, you and I are each other’s only allies. What benefit would I gain by contacting him? I’m doing all this entirely for you!”
As she spoke, she walked forward and hugged Ge Panming, resting her head on his shoulder. Ge Panming had a faint smile at the corners of his lips, his hands clasped behind his back, gazing into the distance. He neither pushed her away nor embraced her back.
Zhu Caiwei felt somewhat disappointed. Ge Panming had always been aloof, never caring about others’ emotions, and had never spoken a soft word to Zhu Caiwei. Yet, precisely because of this, Zhu Caiwei became even more infatuated. Given Ge Panming’s mysterious identity and abilities, he was completely qualified to be this arrogant.
Zhu Caiwei felt that only such a person was worthy of her. After all, Ge Panming’s attitude towards her was different. Everyone else was extremely afraid of Ge Panming, but only she was qualified to accompany him.
This was something to be proud of.
Zhu Caiwei believed that Ge Panming was not good at expressing his emotions and would one day change for her.
Xia Xianning had his hand on the sword hilt. The two main instigators of the entire matter, Zhu Caiwei and Ge Panming, were both here. If he could control them, everything could be resolved.
His sword had drawn out half an inch before being pressed back – Ge Panming was too cunning, and what appeared here was not his true self.
