Yu Yi was surprised that Qu Chan had been killed so suddenly.
Xue Chenjing, sensing her thoughts, leaned close and whispered in her ear, "Not dead yet."
As he spoke, his breath tickled inside her collar, causing Yu Yi's ear to tingle with a numbing sensation. The fine hairs at her temples stood on end, and she couldn't help but shrink her neck.
Before she could tell him to keep his distance while speaking, another development below captured her attention.
Just as Xue Chenjing had said, Qu Chan wasn't dead. He Yungeng had only destroyed the silver moon plate where it resided. Before Qu Chan's soul could dissipate, Wen Li suddenly pulled out a triangular banner with black and gold patterns from his sleeve.
Golden threads shot out from the banner, weaving into a net that ensnared Qu Chan's soul, forcefully dragging it into the Demon-Capturing Banner.
After the golden light receded, the two examined the banner's surface. The black background with gold patterns was covered in strange designs, appearing rather gaudy. Among the numerous patterns, a new twisted dark red embroidery had appeared.
Wen Li studied the embroidery for a while before remarking, "So it's just a little earthworm."
Upon entering the banner, Qu Chan sensed the eerily terrifying aura surrounding it and asked timidly, "Where am I? What are you going to do with me?"
He Yungeng explained, "This is the Demon-Capturing Banner. Inside are creatures like yourself who have caused trouble and chaos. When we return to our sect, you'll all be judged for your crimes."
Terrified by the horrifying atmosphere, Qu Chan trembled and begged for mercy.
He Yungeng continued, "As for the demons you mentioned, if you help us eliminate them, you may redeem yourself."
Qu Chan immediately replied, "I can do that! Destroying evil and subduing demons is righteous work. I'm willing to assist you both."
Wen Li chuckled and mercilessly shattered its delusions, "Little earthworm, you are a demon yourself. After stealing the Moon God's incense for so long, you actually started believing you were divine?"
At that moment, the demons that the two Carefree Sect members wanted to eliminate were lying on the roof of the Moon God Temple.
Xue Chenjing's gaze lingered on the profile of the person beside him, moving from her still-reddened eyes to her slightly swollen lips from his rough kisses. His eyes fixed on the small cut on her lower lip, and his throat grew dry again as he said hoarsely, "Master, I'm sorry, next time I'll be gentler..."
"What do you mean gentler?" Yu Yi found his words puzzling and finally spared him some attention. When she turned to look at him, she met Xue Chenjing's mesmerized eyes. His cheeks were flushed, his breathing heavy, and he stared at her lips as if about to pounce and bite her again.
Yu Yi pressed her palm against his increasingly close face, unconsciously running her tongue over her lower lip, and said irritably, "Don't even think about it. There won't be a next time."
She had only allowed it earlier because his sudden action had caught her off guard, leaving her no time to refuse.
Xue Chenjing didn't understand. "Why not? Yi'er, I'll learn to do better. Next time I won't hurt you. Please don't reject me? I was wrong, I'll be gentle, I'll kiss and suck softly, won't bite you anymore. If you're worried, you can even break my teeth - then I won't be able to hurt you. Is that okay?"
What on earth was he saying?!
Yu Yi gave him an exasperated look, her ears burning from his shameless words, and snapped, "Do you just enjoy kissing people that much?"
Xue Chenjing's eyes sparkled as he nodded obediently, "I like it. It feels good."
He loved tasting Yu Yi's essence. Ever since that time in the Sinking Flower Sea when her aura had completely baptized him, his senses had constantly craved her nourishment, like withered grass that had tasted sweet rain and could no longer endure drought.
Without rain, grass would die, and so would he.
Yu Yi's heart pounded wildly at his frank and direct gaze. She forced herself to look away from his yearning eyes and said coldly, "Well, I don't want to. If you like it so much, there are plenty of people down there. You can find someone else."
Xue Chenjing actually turned his head and looked back and forth at the crowd in the temple. Whatever he imagined made him suddenly cover his mouth and start retching uncontrollably.
Yu Yi: "???"
Xue Chenjing retched so violently his entire stomach began to cramp. His concealment technique wavered, and the two sword cultivators below immediately noticed, whipping their heads toward the temple roof and demanding, "Who's there?"
As their voices rang out, two figures leaped onto the roof one after another, their crossing sword lights flanking both sides. Yu Yi reacted swiftly, sweeping her sword out to tear an opening in the net of sword light, then grabbed the teary-eyed man and fled.
The bamboo sword carried the two of them across the dawn sky like a shooting star, with two streams of sword light in close pursuit. Only after entering Fengsheng County and racing through the interweaving alleys for a while did they finally shake off their pursuers.
Yu Yi threw Xue Chenjing off the bamboo sword, ignoring his pitiful cries as she flew away on her sword into the increasingly bright morning light.
Xue Chenjing stood in the dark alley for quite a while before angrily kicking over a pile of nearby debris and snorting, "Who needs to kiss her anyway." His expression twisted for a moment before he grudgingly squeezed out through gritted teeth, "I want to kiss her, I only want to kiss her..."
Xue Chenjing pressed his lips together and kicked the wall again, leaving a footprint half an inch deep as brick dust showered down. He stepped back, waving away the dust in his face, and said angrily, "How much longer is this truth-telling mode going to last?"
The system perched on the task tree and studied for a moment before saying, "Master, there's no time limit on this. If you want to turn it off, you'll need to meet the deactivation conditions."
Although Xue Chenjing was exhausted by its endless variety of tasks, he had somewhat adapted and was no longer as resistant as before. After cursing once, he resigned himself to asking, "What are the conditions?"
The system replied, "When your relationship develops smoothly without needing the truth-telling mode, this temporary task will automatically close. Specifically, the condition is that the target of your pursuit must say the words 'I believe you' to you."
After pondering for a moment, Xue Chenjing confidently went after Yu Yi.
Getting her to say "I believe you" should be simple, right?
Meanwhile, after leaving Xue Chenjing behind and confirming no one was following, Yu Yi flew her sword to the Du residence.
To her surprise, when she arrived at the Du family home, Xue Chenjing was already waiting for her. As soon as she appeared on the street near the Du residence, familiar invisible tentacles pulled her into a dark alley at the corner.
Xue Chenjing covered her mouth before she could ask questions and explained, "The earthworm and those two cultivators are waiting for us at the Du residence."
Yu Yi blinked, immediately understanding the reason. When she was inside the Moon God statue, she had mentioned the Du family matter to Qu Chan, who must have realized her connection to the Du family.
After Xue Chenjing released her mouth, Yu Yi asked, "How did you know?"
"I left something at their house when we left," Xue Chenjing said, his eyebrows dancing with pride as his expression begged for praise. He pulled out a plump little black bug from his sleeve.
Yu Yi: "..." That thing looked familiar.
Xue Chenjing skillfully kneaded the little black bug for a moment, then gently pinched it. The bug made a gurgling sound and spat out a bubble.
The scene floating in the bubble showed the Du family courtyard.
With its false Moon God faith collapsed, Qu Chan's powers had severely diminished. Sealed within the Demon-Capturing Banner, it could no longer maintain the demon arts it once wielded.
Zhao Zhi had been suffering from abdominal pain since the previous night. With the commotion in the city and at the Moon Goddess Temple, many people fled the city at night. Du Qian had frantically visited several medical clinics but couldn't find a doctor.
To make matters worse, Du's Father and Du's Mother were causing trouble, acting like madmen wanting to rush to the Moon Goddess Temple outside the city. They couldn't be stopped and kept shouting, "Finding a doctor is useless. To save our grandchild, we must go to the Moon Goddess Temple and pray to the Moon Goddess."
They even tried to drag the bedridden Zhao Zhi along, wanting to take her and Du Ruo to kneel at the Moon Goddess Temple.
At that time, Zhao Zhi was already unconscious from pain and bleeding. How could Granny Li allow them to torment her daughter further?
She grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stood guard by Zhao Zhi's bed, holding the crying Du Ruo with one hand while threatening to swing the knife at anyone who dared to drag her daughter away. Only then did the Du elderly couple back down in fear.
The two of them couldn't take Zhao Zhi and Du Ruo with them, so they had to leave the city alone.
Du Qian was torn between choices. He followed his parents to the city gate, and seeing that he truly couldn't persuade them to return, he hesitated for a moment before rushing back into the city to continue searching for a doctor for his wife.
That night in Fengsheng County was incredibly chaotic. By the time he finally found a doctor and brought him home, Du Ruo had already cried herself into unconsciousness, and Zhao Zhi had a large pool of blood beneath her, mixed with an almost fully formed fetus.
The doctor checked her pulse, shook his head helplessly, and bent down to examine the expelled fetus.
The fetus quickly dissolved in the blood. Its partially formed arms crumbled at a touch, turning into something like mud. The doctor's face suddenly changed as he exclaimed in shock, "How could she be carrying a mud fetus?"
Du Qian and Granny Li hurried forward to look, while the doctor backed out of the room, fleeing in terror.
It was at this moment that He Yungeng and Wen Li arrived at the Du household. Qu Chan, eager to atone for his crimes by helping them catch the demon, had meticulously recounted everything that had happened along the way.
Having lost track of their quarry, the two decided to try their luck at the Du residence. Little did they expect to encounter such a bloody scene upon entering.
In an alley not far from the Du residence, Yu Yi watched through a bubble as Granny Li helplessly bowed towards the courtyard, wiping tears while mumbling, "Miss Yu, this old woman knows you're no ordinary person. If you can hear me, please come save my daughter."
She turned her head to look at the Du family courtyard, but Xue Chenjing grabbed her wrist, saying softly, "The one who tied the bell must be the one to untie it. That earthworm knows better than you how to resolve the trouble it caused."
Yu Yi's step faltered as his words convinced her.
In the bubble, He Yungeng and his companion had already introduced themselves. Since Fengsheng County was under the jurisdiction of the Carefree Sect, the locals had heard of the immortal sect's reputation and tended to trust their cultivators more.
He Yungeng entered the room and unfurled the Demon-Capturing Banner. Looking at the bloody mud, Qu Chan said sympathetically, "It's all those two people's fault. If it weren't for them, this male fetus could have been born!"
He Yungeng scolded, "That's absurd! Even if born, it would still be a body made of mud. How could that be considered human?"
Qu Chan was quite defiant, "I'm made of mud too, what's wrong with that?"
He Yungeng, quick-tempered, immediately raised his sword scabbard and struck the Demon-Capturing Banner, making Qu Chan cry out in pain and beg for mercy. "It's better that the fetus was lost. It won't absorb the mother's vital energy anymore, and Zhao Zhi will recover. The mud fetus was only three months along, with just one hun soul and two po souls. We just need to return the souls from the mud fetus to Du Ruo."
Wen Li bent down by the bedside and touched the bloody mud on the bed, saying, "It seems there are no souls in this mud fetus."
