Sundan also stood up from the ground, speaking with a breathless but determined voice: “I was in that cave because this woman imprisoned me and found someone to impersonate the tribal leader. She just drew a lot of my blood.”
By this point, Zhu Caiwei threw caution to the wind and coldly laughed: “Fools are better off dead! Serves them right!”
The families of the deceased looked at her, unable to believe their ears.
As all the truth became clear, some people could no longer restrain themselves and rushed to beat Zhu Caiwei.
Luo Yingbai instantly understood Zhu Caiwei’s intention and shouted: “Don’t get close to her, she’s deliberately provoking you to take hostages!”
Behind him were most of the Chi Qiong tribe members. As Luo Yingbai spoke, he held them back, and simultaneously, Xia Xianning flashed and appeared in front of Zhu Caiwei.
Zhu Caiwei, not daring to confront Xia Xianning head-on, turned to flee.
A red light flashed, a curtain of red lines spread like clouds, rolling towards Zhu Caiwei and blocking her path. Behind her, Xia Xianning’s sword qi burst forth, directly pursuing her.
Under their joint attack, Zhu Caiwei felt her head was about to fall off her neck. Gritting her teeth, she revealed a dagger and used all her strength to slice through the red lines!
Even Zhu Caiwei didn’t expect that her all-out strike would create a gap in the encirclement. Luo Yingbai’s hand paused, and Zhu Caiwei seized the opportunity to escape.
Luo Yingbai’s face showed no sign of regret. After withdrawing his hand, he winked at Xia Xianning and said, “Shall we chase?”
Xia Xianning slightly nodded, and the two followed Zhu Caiwei from a not-too-near distance. Luo Yingbai was clearly deliberately letting her go because they both knew that in this place, if Zhu Caiwei wanted to survive, her only helper could be Ge Panming.
Moonlight spilled, the night like water, Udumbara flowers gradually bloomed on the ground, their petals bright red as blood, fragrance filling the chest. In the midst of the flower sea stood a solemn and magnificent palace.
The palace was built against a towering cliff, so high it seemed to reach the clouds. Zhu Caiwei rushed into the palace first.
Xia Xianning stopped, and Luo Yingbai ran up from behind, almost crashing into his back, and quickly braked, placing a hand on Xia Xianning’s shoulder: “What’s wrong?”
Xia Xianning felt a throbbing pain in his temples. The red flowers before his eyes seemed to hallucinate into a blood sea, slowly meandering and converging into a massive demonic claw reaching towards his feet.
Xia Xianning was suddenly startled, his first reaction was to push Luo Yingbai behind himself, then draw his sword.
The sword blade flashed, illuminating his elegant features. Luo Yingbai held his hand, speaking softly: “Xianning!”
Xia Xianning suddenly came to his senses, the blood-colored vision vanishing, returning to the brilliant flower sea. He turned his head; Luo Yingbai’s familiar face showed concern.
For some reason, Xia Xianning’s heart quietly relaxed, like a precious treasure thought to be lost was found safely nestled in his arms.
He released the sword, instead holding Luo Yingbai’s hand, closed his eyes, and pressed his hand against his face for a moment, then said: “It’s okay. Be careful, this flower fragrance might cause hallucinations.”
Luo Yingbai was puzzled, whispering: “I don’t feel anything…”
Xia Xianning was stunned. Lo Yingbai’s expression darkened, and without answering his question, he quickly pushed away Xia Xianning’s hand: “Be careful!”
A sharp blade-cutting sound came head-on.
Xia Xianning was pushed away by Lo Yingbai. In the blink of an eye, he saw the tightly closed palace door suddenly open with a loud bang. A silver long halberd, with a deafening whistle, swept across the sky, stabbing straight toward the spot where he had just been standing.
Xia Xianning’s sword was already in his hand. Without time to think, he shifted his body to block in front of Lo Yingbai, swinging his sword to cut the halberd. The sword and blade scraped, sparks flew with a sharp sound. Xia Xianning’s wrist went numb, while the long halberd vibrated violently and actually flew back.
In an instant, the palace door closed again.
Xia Xianning faced such provocation, his brow filled with anger. Seeing the door close, he flipped his wrist and thrust out his long sword.
This thrust was surprisingly more powerful than before. Countless golden starlight appeared in mid-air, accompanying the long sword’s brilliant radiance. It drew a beautiful light band in the boundless night, directly splitting open the palace door.
The two door panels crashed down. After the dust settled, the interior was brightly lit, and a shrine could be vaguely seen.
Lo Yingbai said, “Xianning, what’s wrong with you? I feel like your emotions are…”
Halfway through his words, he suddenly turned back and found that Xia Xianning had disappeared.
Lo Yingbai exclaimed in shock, “Xianning!”
His voice echoed in the mountains, but no one responded. After a brief panic, Lo Yingbai quickly forced himself to calm down.
Xia Xianning was not a weak girl. Moreover, when he had disappeared earlier, Lo Yingbai was standing right beside him. Even if Xia Xianning was caught off guard and ambushed, he couldn’t have been completely unaware.
So now there were two possibilities: either he encountered an illusion or an alternate space. In any case, he should not be in danger. After all, Ge Panming must have chosen this place to hide for a reason.
As Ge Panming was his own weapon, any plan or confrontation was likely aimed at himself. Perhaps it was better that Xia Xianning was not nearby.
Lo Yingbai understood this and slowly walked into the open hall. The sword that Xia Xianning had just used to break down the door had also disappeared.
The shrine in the middle was precisely the silver long halberd that had just flown out and been cut back by Xia Xianning, which should be Ge Panming’s true form.
The Chi Qiong clan had received the favor of the Ghost Emperor and honored him as their guardian deity, mainly because Ge Panming could sense this halberd, which led to his acceptance as a priest.
They did not know that this person’s true identity was the god who had saved their clan back then.
The accumulated anger had mostly dissipated with Peng Xuan’s death and Zhu Caiwei’s failure. Looking at the halberd now, Lo Yingbai felt a complex emotion.
He lightly pressed on the shrine and leaped up, closely examining the long halberd, feeling something unusual.
Now he basically knew Ge Panming’s identity, their grievances, and the feelings between him and Xia Xianning in their previous life. However, Lo Yingbai always lacked the deep sense of involvement that Xia Xianning had. This “knowing” was merely “knowing” and not a feeling from the depths of his heart.
Lo Yingbai’s fingers gently traced the uneven texture when a voice suddenly came from behind:
“Long Xiao sets the palace, five capitals submit. Eternal light remains, rainbow spans endlessly.”
He withdrew his hand, jumped down from the shrine, and turned back calmly, saying, “You’re here, Ge Panming.”
Ge Panming smiled ambiguously, his figure turning and disappearing before Lo Yingbai’s eyes. Immediately, the halberd on the shrine transformed back into human form.
Lo Yingbai’s gaze swept behind Ge Panming, seeing Zhu Caiwei hiding behind a curtain, peeking out a corner to look at him. Their eyes met, and she was startled, quickly hiding back.
Lo Yingbai asked Ge Panming, “You still want to protect her?”
Zhu Caiwei was also very worried about this and immediately looked at Ge Panming.
