Page 175

"Fine then, just stand back there and watch."

He turned his back to Jinyue and took care of his business right there.

However, as the sound of high-pressure water hit the ground, the previously stubborn Jinyue suddenly blushed, covered her mouth, and hastily stepped back.

Initially, Jinyue had indeed planned to look away. But as she kept backing up, she hit a tree. She then conveniently hid behind it, only peeking her small head out to stare at Yino's back.

After Yino finished, he turned around and was startled. Read latest stories on empire

"Wait, you actually watched the whole time?"

"Well, actually... I heard a rumor in your human world... they say the farther a man can urinate, the stronger his abilities are in bed..."

Jinyue poked her head out, trying to change the subject while mumbling shyly.

Yino was baffled, never expecting Jinyue to have such hidden thoughts. He suddenly felt that if this were the game, an achievement would pop up in the bottom left corner: [Urinated in Front of a Pleasure Witch].

"So, did you judge my abilities to be strong?"

Yino raised an eyebrow, never imagining he'd one day discuss such strange topics with a girl.

However, Jinyue took the conversation seriously. Seeing Yino approach, she followed behind him with a slight blush: "I don't know... I haven't seen others to compare..."

"Actually, comparing with others is meaningless. You should consider comparing with yourself."

"Compare with myself?"

The little foxgirl blinked, a big question mark appearing above her head. She looked down between her legs, seemingly unable to imagine how to make such a comparison.

"The comparison I'm talking about isn't about distance, but rather about who would tire first between you and your bedchamber partner," Yino suddenly said with a smirk.

"?--?!!"

At these words, images immediately flooded Jinyue's mind. She swallowed silently. Though usually comfortable making pervert jokes, when it came to moments like this, Jinyue couldn't help but fall silent.

Just as the two were preparing to leave, a thunderous boom came from the southwest--

"What's that? Cultivators fighting over a secret treasure?"

Yino stopped, curiously looking toward the distance. Since this thunder wasn't in the game's plot, based on the intensity of the sound, Yino estimated it was either two high-level cultivators dueling or groups of cultivators in a mass battle.

"--!"

Meanwhile, when Jinyue heard the thunder and looked back, she suddenly recalled scenes from the Witch Tea Party. The young woman bit her lip lightly and gathered her courage to grab Yino's clothes.

But this time, before Jinyue could speak, Yino immediately turned around, pointing his finger sternly:

"Jinyue, Chen Jianxin followed your guidance last time and ended up getting stabbed at the Mountain Temple."

"So you'd better say less now. Even if they're fighting chaos over there, I won't go!"

"But, but..." Jinyue puffed her cheeks innocently. She wanted to argue that Yino was being prejudiced, but thinking about it, she found she had nothing to say.

Finally, Jinyue simply bit her lip and said somewhat petulantly:

"What if Ruoning is in danger over there?"

"Still not our business. Ruoning is the chosen one and the young miss of the Liu Manor. Besides you and me, there are hardly any cultivators in this secret realm who could defeat her."

"What if it's not orthodox cultivators?"

"--!"

…

In the southwestern part of the Azure Forest.

As the earth-shattering explosion subsided, Ruoning descended from the sky, stumbling from exhaustion, with blood trickling from the corner of her lips.

Before her, the shadow guard, now only half a body remaining, used his last breath to reach tremblingly toward the surviving young lady.

"Young Miss, quick... run..."

But before his words could fade, those eerie blood-colored vines burst from the ground again, transforming mid-air into a man-eating flower with a bloody maw that swallowed the remaining half of the shadow guard's body.

Ruoning's eyes widened as she fell to one knee in terror.

In her field of vision, as the dust settled, the bandage-wrapped evil cult's Holy Maiden merely waved her hand before casually walking out from the shadows.

Under the sunlight, one of her arms had been severed by sword techniques, but the cross-section showed no blood flow. Instead, with the writhing of green vines, a brand new limb grew from the sickly young woman's severed arm.

Witnessing this scene, the already exhausted Ruoning fell into complete despair.

"Monster..."

As the sickly young woman wrapped in vines approached step by step, Ruoning finally collapsed to her knees.

Along the way, the opponent had stepped over scattered bloody flesh and stones - all the remains of Core Formation stage shadow guards the Liu Manor had sent to secretly protect Ruoning.

Now, they had all died fighting alongside Ruoning against the evil cult's Holy Maiden.

Ruoning had tried to abandon the shadow guards and flee alone, but the result was as it is now - the opponent merely casually tore apart the intercepting shadow guards and continued pursuing Ruoning relentlessly.

By now, Ruoning was numb.

Throughout her escape, not only had her illusions been repeatedly seen through by those strange vines, but the opponent had also killed shadow guards along the way, deliberately using their dismembered bodies as projectiles, as if ensuring Ruoning would see...

"Why waste time?"

At some point, a pair of bandage-wrapped fair jade feet stopped before Ruoning.

Ruoning looked up, first seeing the blood-white evening gown and a blue-white braided plait, before finally meeting the gaze of the sickly beautiful young woman who appeared frail.

"If you hadn't struggled and simply came with me to see Yino, these people wouldn't have died because of you."

Ruan Liuli stood with her back to the sun, speaking as if annoyed by the trouble.

Ruoning's body trembled, her soft face, never having seen battlefields in Jiangnan, now completely pale.

Even so, she still gritted her teeth in defiance to the death.

Because Ruan Liuli's words were nonsense - if she truly gave up resistance without a fight, wouldn't she just become Yino's burden once captured?

Backed into a corner, though her delicate body trembled in fear, Ruoning suddenly spat in the other's face--

"When the time comes, Yino will kill you first, then rescue me!"

"Is that so."

Hearing this, Ruan Liuli's previously listless beautiful eyes showed a hint of curiosity.

From what Ruan Liuli knew, Yino had successively killed Chen Jianxin and Gu Wanglan, and was a cunning and treacherous Mother Goddess believer who maximized benefits.

Compared to Ruoning, clearly Ruan Liuli, the Full Moon Cult's Holy Maiden, held more appeal for Yino.

Yet Ruoning seemed unaware of all this, still foolishly believing her lover would come riding on rainbow clouds to save her...

"Let's make a bet."

"When we meet Yino later, guess whether he'll choose to drink my blood plasma to become my blood servant in order to save you?"

In the sunlight, the sickly young woman with her blue-white braided hair suddenly gave a wicked smile. She eagerly bit her crimson lip, extending her tongue to gently lick the plasma seeping from the corner of her mouth.

At the same time, Ruoning's beautiful eyes focused sharply with sudden realization.

Just as she approached the brink of despair, Ruan Liuli couldn't resist adding another soul-searching question with playful malice:

"If Yino truly becomes my blood servant to save you, would you - the chosen lady of the Grand Tutor's Manor - really still be willing to marry someone who, though he saved you, is an unforgivably evil cultist?"

"???!!"

….

"Master, at a time like this, please stop speaking in riddles!"

"What exactly is the situation with Yino? You say he might not be human, hint that he might not follow the righteous path, and suggest his eyes contain evil intent..."

"Could he actually be an evil cultist who has placed a curse on Ruoning?"

On another side of the Azure Forest, Xumo stood still, anxiously muttering to himself in the air. He had been seeking information about Yino from his master.

Just moments ago, his master had suddenly declared that Yino would "consume" Ruoning completely, then kept speaking in vague riddles, leaving Xumo thoroughly confused.

And this so-called "consuming" - was it in the physical sense, or another kind of "physical" sense?

But just as Xumo was lost in confusion, a massive explosion suddenly thundered from deep within the Azure Forest—

BOOM!!!

"Master, what's happening now?"

[Who knows? Perhaps Ruoning has been captured by Yino.]

In the sea of consciousness, the nine-tailed white fox smiled faintly, delivering this line as if having anticipated it all along.

At these words, Xumo froze in place.

He recalled the bet between Yino and Ruoning outside the secret realm, and suddenly felt at a loss, his mind racing with possibilities. If this were just lovers sparring, Xumo indeed had no right to interfere.

But combining all the clues his master had just given, Xumo suddenly became suspicious of Yino's methods and true identity. Seeing Xumo's thoughts, Qiu Yuebai sighed in annoyance and finally spoke bluntly--

[If you don't go check now, Ruoning will be corrupted by Yino's demonic arts.]