“The second elder isn’t here yet,” Yun Ruoyan remarked, surprised. 

He must be doing this deliberately—he’ll only show up once everyone else has entered the alternate dimension, so no one would question him even if he were sending Yi Qianying in! What a wily fox!

Yun Ruoyan’s guess was exactly what the second elder was planning. After all, Yi Qianying was a convict, and having her take the place of one of the students would definitely be frowned upon by the other elders. In that case, he might as well show up late and send her in before anyone could stop him.

The first elder frowned at the second elder’s lack of appearance. He turned to Cang Song, murmuring for him to head to the northern college to determine what was going on. Then, he announced to the gathered crowd, “The all-seeing mirror’s already been activated. Everyone, get ready to enter the portal.”

The students began whispering furiously to each other. One of the students pointed toward the all-seeing mirror. “Look!”

Yun Ruoyan raised her head and looked toward the mirror. The blinding light was starting to revolve as it took on the form of a whirlpool. The whirlpool flew out of the mirror and landed on the ground.

“Everyone, step back. The southern college’s students will proceed through the portal first. Stand in line and prepare for entrance.”

“Sister Ruoyan, we’ll be leaving now. Wait for us to return!” Lin Qingxue and Lin Qingchen tugged on Yun Ruoyan’s hand, reluctant to part with her after seeing her again for the first time in months. Zhuo Yifeng’s gaze swept over Yun Ruoyan as he said, “Let’s go.” 

“Yan’er, stay safe.” Li Mo cupped her cheek. “You’re still weak, and the cottage by the cliff might be a little cold, so stay in the southern tower instead. The first elder will take care of you, alright? Now, I’ll be going.”

Yun Ruoyan tugged on his hand.

“Yan’er…”

“You promised me never to turn your back on me.” Yun Ruoyan lowered her head. Her small, piteous voice brushed by Li Mo’s ear. “Won’t you at least let me send you in?”

Li Mo was unable to resist her voice, and he walked her toward the portal.

“This is as far as you can go. If you keep walking forward, you’ll be affected by the portal’s suction,” Li Mo explained to Yun Ruoyan, then stopped.

“Li Mo, it’s almost time for you to enter!” the first elder called out.

Yun Ruoyan and Li Mo both looked toward the portal as Lin Qingchen and Lin Qingxue stood by its front. They both turned around to face her; Zhuo Yifeng had entered before they did. Despite being shielded by a spiritual membrane, the current through the portal felt as though it were whipping at their hair and clothes.

Both the Lin sisters waved at Yun Ruoyan. Lin Qingchen took Lin Qingxue’s hand, and they walked into the portal together.

The first elder frowned at the scene, but he didn’t say anything.

“Next!” he called out, and the last of the southern college’s students walked up. This student was a replacement for Zhou Lin, who had been killed by the shade. His cultivation had been insufficient, so he was forced to ingest a pill to become an eighth-rank blademaster.

He seemed to panic as he stepped in front of the portal, slowly and gingerly walking forward. When a spiritual membrane condensed on his body, it scared even himself. Only when he realized that it would protect him did he finally relax and walk boldly through the portal.

“Yan’er, listen to me.” Li Mo leaned down and kissed Yun Ruoyan’s forehead, then pulled her hand away. He turned around to face her, then began walking backwards to the portal.

Yun Ruoyan took a step forward, and the first elder yelled out, “Ruoyan, stay where you are!”

Yun Ruoyan stopped moving. She watched on as Li Mo stepped toward the portal, the air currents causing his long, black hair and expansive robe to billow around him.

“Yan’er, wait for me to return!”

Yun Ruoyan gave Li Mo a splendid smile, then began running forward.

“Yun Ruoyan!”

“Yan’er!”

Ignoring the first elder and Li Mo’s shocked cries, she rushed into Li Mo’s lap, knocking them both into the portal.

Yun Ruoyan felt her whole body twinging with pain, almost as much pain as she had experienced while unconscious with the corpse poison flowing through her veins. The only difference was that this time, the pain was caused by the blades of wind surrounding the portal.

The moment she entered the portal, her back, wrists, and ankles were cut dozens of times. Luckily, her face was buried in Li Mo’s chest, and it hadn’t been injured.

Li Mo’s spiritual membrane quickly enveloped Yun Ruoyan before she could suffer any further injury.

“Yan’er, you—”

“I know you’re mad, Li Mo, but this was important to me.” Yun Ruoyan lifted her head and glanced at him. “Li Mo, I believed that you wouldn’t push me away.”

“How could I bear to do so?” Li Mo sighed, tightly embracing Yun Ruoyan’s petite body. The currents roiling through the tunnel grew stronger and more intense, and Li Mo had to focus his entire attention on congealing the spiritual membrane around them to shield them from the wind.

Yun Ruoyan glanced all around her to see other students drifting through the portal, wobbling and unsteady, just like kites cut loose from their strings. She was searching for the Lin sisters, whom she finally found not far away. They were still holding each other’s hands firmly, but their bodies were wobbling rather violently, and they would turn head-over-heels from time to time. 

Zhuo Yifeng was right by their side. Despite the current, he didn’t seem to be having much difficulty at all.

“It’s easiest to maintain your stability if you’re alone,” Li Mo explained. “The larger the volume, the more impact the current will have on you, and the easier it is to be attacked by the blades of wind.”

It was only after hearing Li Mo’s explanation that Yun Ruoyan understood why the first elder had told them to enter one by one, instead of as a big group. The Lin sisters didn’t realize this point, but Zhuo Yifeng did. Yun Ruoyan watched as he valiantly got close to the two sisters, then motioned for them to release each other’s hands.

As soon as they did so, they found themselves much more stabilized. Yun Ruoyan released a breath she had been holding, then burrowed deeper into Li Mo’s robes and tried to minimize her presence. Her body was rather petite compared to Li Mo’s, and she had grown far thinner during her coma. When she burrowed into his robes, it was almost as if she had vanished entirely.

They had just gotten past the most turbulent part of the passage when Qiuqiu called out, “Mistress, there’s danger ahead!”

Yun Ruoyan tried to poke her head out of Li Mo’s robes, but Li Mo pushed her back inside. Yun Ruoyan heard a strange, hoarse voice coming from before them. “Slaughtering King, have you been well?”

The shade that hurt me! 

Yun Ruoyan’s eyes widened. Hadn’t Li Mo burned it to death with his spiritual flame?!

Yun Ruoyan poked her head out of Li Mo’s robes to see a black shade hovering about ten feet away from them.

“You haven’t died?” Li Mo asked, his eyes narrowed.

“I’m already dead,” the shade replied. “Trying to kill the dead’s a difficult task. If you had burned me for another two hours or so with your spiritual flame, Your Highness, you might have caused even my soul to disperse. Unfortunately for you, you didn’t have the time, and I managed to survive.”

“Who are you?” Li Mo asked.

“In the past, I was a nameless spirit, a shade forged from a vengeful ghost,” the shade replied. “But now, Your Highness, you may call me Yi Qianying.”

The black shade floated to the side, allowing Li Mo to see a human behind it, wrapped up in a spiritual membrane. Her face was thin and emaciated, her hair hung limply by her head, and she continued wearing a prisoner’s outfit: Yi Qianying!

Yi Qianying’s eyes were wide open, but Yun Ruoyan couldn’t feel any spark of life from the girl’s body.

“You turned her into your puppet?” Li Mo asked.

“She volunteered for it. I found her in the hall of penitence and discovered that she had a rare full 

yin

 constitution, able to bear my possession without dying too rapidly. I enticed her to form an agreement with me: if I killed Li Qianxiao, Pei Ziao, and Yun Ruoyan on her behalf, she would give me her body.”

“So it was you who killed Li Qianxiao!” Li Mo accused.

“Oh, yes. I’ve killed Li Qianxiao and Pei Ziao, so the only one left is Yun Ruoyan. Once I kill her, I’ll be able to fulfill this body’s wishes.”

“Try me if you dare.”

The shade laughed. “In some other location, I wouldn’t dream of getting close to you, Your Highness, but here in this passageway, I’m the only one who can move freely.”

As an incorporeal entity, it was entirely unaffected by the currents that everyone else had to defend themselves against.

“Here, I’m just like a god!” the shade shouted, then pounced toward Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan...

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