Page 234

Another long chapter:3

Enjoy.

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The negotiations between Yino and Wenhua proceeded smoothly.

After all, there wasn’t any real conflict of interest between the two—just a bit of basic social maneuvering. For Yino, it was hardly troublesome. When you don’t know the truth, the powerful treat you like a fool, feeding you lies. But once you do learn the truth, those same powerful figures will proactively pull you into their circle to maintain the illusion.

In a way, it reminded Yino of Yuebai’s own accounts—back then, the legendary celestial master seemed to operate on this same logic.

No matter how shoddy or patched up the reality was, as long as the system kept running, that was all that mattered. This was the essence of a makeshift operation.

"Speaking of which, after you quelled the ancient tree spirit’s rage back then—"

Now that the situation had calmed, Wenhua returned to more pressing matters.

Yino, watching his halfhearted demeanor, almost couldn’t keep a straight face. He had assumed Wenhua already grasped the full story. But it turned out the elder hadn’t stopped asking questions because he’d figured it out, but because he felt hiding the truth of the Azure Forest was more urgent than chasing after the ancient tree spirit’s whereabouts.

"As you’ve seen, Elder, after we pacified the tree spirit, the barrier deep within this ancient palace was damaged."

"Later, just quelling the tree spirit’s wrath took all our strength, which allowed the cult’s holy maiden to take advantage of the situation and escape with her."

"After that... we pursued her, hoping to stop her."

"Unfortunately, she was too cunning, and we disciples are simply not strong enough to catch her..."

"When we returned to the palace, that’s when we came across you speaking with Xumo."

Yino’s explanation was calm and detached, sticking closely to the version he had agreed upon with Liuli. The story had been meticulously crafted, with no apparent gaps.

On the other side, Wenhua sighed heavily as he listened.

"Who could have predicted such a method to break the seal—turning demonic in a rampage to shatter the chains, then calming the rage... Honestly, you should have fled sooner. Had the tree spirit’s fury spread further, it would have triggered multiple layers of the Azure Forest’s alarms, summoning the Immortal Alliance stationed outside to suppress her immediately."

Wenhua’s tone carried the weight of caution and life experience.

Seizing the moment, Yino lowered his gaze, wearing an expression of guilt.

"My apologies. We didn’t expect things to unfold this way..."

"Ah, forget it. You’re just young kids. It’s normal for you not to know the secret workings of the Azure Forest... Besides, if not for your timely intervention, the tree spirit’s rampage could have turned the entire forest into a sea of flames. Who knows how many young disciples exploring here would have perished."

Wenhua patted Yino’s shoulder, offering genuine praise.

From the perspective of a righteous elder, Wenhua wouldn’t claim to have completely clean hands. But as a senior member of the Wuji Sect, he genuinely appreciated seeing younger disciples with such a sense of responsibility.

"Well then, regardless of the outcome, the merits you’ve earned will not be overlooked. The Wuji Sect will ensure that young talents like you are justly rewarded."

Wenhua waved his hand, his tone filled with approval.

Seeing Yino satisfied, Wenhua finally led him back to the group. Clearing his throat, he asked casually:

"By the way, Yino, when you were chasing that cult’s holy maiden, did you notice which direction she fled in?"

Standing with his hands behind his back, Wenhua’s question seemed offhanded, but there was an edge to it.

Yino hesitated briefly, recalling his prior arrangement with Lily. With a calm gesture, he casually pointed in a random direction.

"She should have escaped northwest. We’re not sure what method she used to traverse the secret realm."

"Northwest, hmm..."

Wenhua narrowed his eyes, pressing a hand to his lips in thought.

After a moment, he glanced toward the ancient palace’s entrance, just as a group of cultivators in black brocade robes strode in.

"Go investigate the northwest. The tree spirit broke free of her seal last night; after leaving the Azure Forest, her body should be weakened. If you hurry, you might still catch her."

Wenhua’s instructions were calm, his gestures commanding the cultivators to disperse.

The group bowed their heads in acknowledgment before disappearing into ethereal shadows.

Wenhua was about to continue speaking when a tuft of hair sticking out from behind the group suddenly darted forward like a spark.

"Why? Why won’t you let Lily go even now?!"

"What did the ancient tree spirit do wrong?!"

"We’ve already imprisoned her in the Azure Forest for over a hundred years, forcing her to nourish it with her life! Must we really drag her back to spend an eternity as nothing more than a potted plant for the forest?!"

The cry rang out, sharp and unwavering.

Yunjin was a passionate person. After witnessing the destruction of Snow Village firsthand, her commitment to righteousness only grew stronger.

To her, this was already a disgrace to the righteous path. But now that everything was exposed, not only did the elders show no remorse, they even wanted to send people thousands of miles to hunt down and capture the Ancient Tree Spirit.

It was as if Lily was just a money tree for the righteous immortal sects.

She had done nothing wrong, but just because she was a guardian spirit who could nourish the Azure Forest, she deserved to be enslaved and exploited.

Yunjin couldn’t stand it anymore. Maybe Yino could tolerate it, but she had to get these words off her chest!

"Exactly! Exactly!"

"How shameless can you righteous immortal sects be—"

Behind Yunjin, the little deer girl joined in with pointing and shouting.

But before she could get too worked up, she suddenly noticed Yino’s icy stare from the front of the crowd.

In that moment, Wangxue seemed to remember how she had eaten Lily’s animal friends.

Gulp...

Just one look was enough to make Wangxue behave.

She went from pointing fingers behind Yunjin to grabbing her hand and playing peacemaker.

"Oh come on, let it go, sister Yunjin, calm down. We’re just passing through the Azure Forest. Even if Lily is being bullied, there’s nothing we can do about it!"

The little deer was being sensible.

Under Yino’s silent warning, she quickly pulled at Yunjin while trying to reason with her.

She knew that if she didn’t stop Yunjin today, by tonight Lily would find out about Wangxue eating her animal friends and cut ties with her completely.

Thinking of this, Wangxue tried even harder to persuade her, even going so far as to bite Yunjin’s clothes with her little mouth to pull her back.

"But... but..."

Though Wangxue held her back desperately, Yunjin’s face still showed traces of humiliation as she ground her teeth.

For a moment, her eyes met Yino’s as he stood beside the elder.

Yino sighed silently.

He knew that as one of the people who had comforted Lily’s anger, Yunjin had taken on too many of the hundreds of years of humiliating memories. But sometimes...

For the sake of long-term righteousness, it was necessary to sacrifice some short-term moral principles.

In the end, true righteousness came from strength.

He hoped this setback in front of Wenhua would help Yunjin learn and grow from her time in the Azure Forest.

"Elder, my junior sister doesn’t know better. I apologize for the embarrassment."

Yino turned to Wenhua with an apologetic smile.

The white-haired elder didn’t seem angry, only silently watching the gray-haired girl’s humiliated face.

"It’s fine, who hasn’t been hot-headed in their youth..."

Wenhua smiled faintly.

He turned to look at the other women besides Yunjin.

"So, before the Immortal Alliance investigates the truth, please don’t spread rumors about what you saw in the Azure Forest last night after you leave."

"There are no outsiders here now, so I understand everyone’s emotions."

"But if you leave this secret realm... those who talk too much will face the Wuji Sect’s rules without mercy."

After giving these brief reminders, Wenhua turned to leave the ancient hall.

Before he left, Yino stopped him to ask a few key questions on Yunjin’s behalf—

"Elder Wenhua, if there’s any news about the Ancient Tree Spirit in the future, whether she’s caught or not, please inform us first." Yino spoke calmly while standing beside Yunjin.

Wenhua paused, looked back at him with understanding, and nodded. Explore more at Lokepub

Only after the elder’s footsteps had completely faded did Yino finally relax.

He looked back to find the atmosphere among the group rather somber.

Jinyue and Yuebai in the sacred mark naturally didn’t care about Lily’s fate, but the remaining two, Ruoning and Wangxue, could somewhat understand the mood. Among them, only the white-robed girl with a small cowlick crouched on the ground, her face red as large teardrops silently rolled down her cheeks.

Yino looked at Yunjin’s back and tried to take off his outer robe, but realized he wasn’t wearing one today.

He looked around and finally set his sights on Ruoning’s fancy dress shawl.

"???"

Meeting Ruoning’s raised eyebrow and strange look, Yino simply took her shawl and crouched down to wrap it around Yunjin.

"Yunjin, do you suddenly feel I’m not as kind-hearted as you imagined?"

Yino crouched beside Yunjin, quietly watching the tears roll down her face.

Yunjin had always been a sensitive girl.

She would grieve for the villagers who died in Snow Village, and she would risk her life investigating the truth behind its destruction.

Now, it was natural for her to cry for the little sapling she had formed a spiritual connection with.

It didn’t matter whether Lily would be caught or not.

Yunjin also knew that Yino’s directions were definitely false.

Yunjin just couldn’t accept it...

Why was it that after coming to the Wuji Sect, all the seniors and elders taught her to be an upright cultivator?

Yet now, Wenhua, an elder of the Wuji Sect, showed his true colors like this.

Lily’s memories had unconsciously shattered Yunjin’s idealized view of the righteous immortal sects, and Wenhua had completely destroyed the pure faith in her heart.

"I don’t hate you... I just... I just feel like the righteous immortal sects are all liars..."

Yunjin crouched on the ground, pouting, still upset.

But before she could finish expressing her grievances through tears, Yino suddenly slipped his arm under her knees and picked her up in a princess carry.

"Come on, don’t overthink it. You can come to Ranmo Peak later, and Yuyan and I will listen to everything you want to say."

"Right now, Lily and Liuli are waiting for us outside the secret realm."

"Instead of worrying about whether the Immortal Alliance cultivators will catch Lily, why don’t we go say a proper goodbye to Lily and Liuli?"

…

"Lily doesn’t want to go to the Western Region with big sister..."

Outside the Azure Forest secret realm, at the edge of a desert in the Western Region.

Two sisters, one big and one small, were chatting.

"Do you really have to stay in the Azure Forest?" Liuli crossed her arms, glaring at her sister with some reluctance.

But just when she was feeling most anxious, the treegirl crouching on the ground, hugging her knees, shook her head.

"No..."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Lily wants to follow Brother Yino, just like little deer does."