"Don't let it get away!" Hui Ziw.a.n.g bellowed as he pushed Zhao Fanyu aside and summoned a swirl of ravens that shot spells and needle arrows at the little girl. The corpses perked up as well and everything was rus.h.i.+ng toward Zhao Weiwei!

Zhao Fanyu didn't even have the time to regret, but when he tried to leave his spot to rush over to her, he was stopped by the demon king. "I don't think so!"

Huo Tang cursed and tried to swallow up the black feathers with her divine flames. But at this point Yuan Xuelan's spiritual energy was nearly depleted and she could hardly summon enough!

The younger cultivator was also thrust into action and wedged himself between two of the corpses that were going to attack the girl. But he couldn't call upon Silei's power anymore. Adrenaline was simmering down into fatigue and he could only curse, having the barest ability to hold back these undead fiends.

Zhao Weiwei would have screamed if she had a voice. But instead, she turned around to run, even when she knew that she wasn't fast enough to lose the terrible things coming for her life.

But she had forgotten how exhausted she was. She totally overestimated the strength left in her legs and tripped over herself. A shadow loomed over her and she saw the ugly maw of an undead man who had a sword raised toward her.

Zhao Weiwei's heart hammered as her eyes instinctively shut.

But there was no pain.

Death was not there to claim her.

When she opened her eyes…she did not know what to expect but it was definitely not seeing the back of Hei Xiang defending her from the corpse!

Hei Xiang's hair was gray and her eyes a sparkling golden, perfectly matched with the demon king. But Zhao Weiwei could recognize her right away. Her voiceless lips mouthed, "Hei-jiejie…"

Zhao Weiwei was yet ignorant of Hui Moxiang's true name. The younger of the two demons raised her head and looked at both her brother and Zhao Fanyu. There were tears p.r.i.c.king her eyes but she held them back.

"Please, Dage, stop this."

Hui Ziw.a.n.g was not pleased by this development, "Hui Moxiang!" He roared at her, "Do you have a f.u.c.king idea about what you're d.a.m.ned doing? Do you have a death wis.h.!.+?"

She shook her head, "No! You're the one with a death wis.h.!.+ This entire plan of yours with that Yang Sehan is just a quick way to the grave!"

But her Dage did not agree, "Why is it that you're too r.e.t.a.r.ded to understand anything!? f.u.c.k, you're such an ungrateful little f.u.c.king brat!" He raised his hand at her and was about to summon a spell, only to be interrupted by Zhao Fanyu who wrestled him into a deadlock. The effect of Zhao Fanyu's enhancement pill was slowly running out but he didn't care about the pain that ripped through his muscles.

"Get off me!" Hui Ziw.a.n.g wrestled with him until he was finally able to get himself free.

By then, two more people ascended the temple steps. Li Zheng and Liu Sumeng had been slower than Zhao Weiwei. Without a jade key of their own, they were forced to activate the traps that protected the top layer. While they had managed to cleave out a safe path for Zhao Weiwei, they had to be more cautious and dismantle the dangers slowly before making their way up.

Hui Ziw.a.n.g looked around him and cursed. Aside from the few remnants of Peng Jipei's little puppets, he was alone and hopelessly outnumbered.

And though he knew that he could put up a good fight and have a decent chance of winning if he summoned the full potential of his powers, was that really something he was willing to do?

He glared at his foolish little sister, "You're making a mistake, Hui Moxiang."

"...Dage, you're the one making mistakes…"

The demon king, who spoke cra.s.sly before, was unusually calm with his words. Hui Moxiang knew that this meant that her brother was truly unhappy. "If you are sentenced to death at their hands, do not expect me to come rescue you." He walked over to the balcony's edge.

Hui Moxiang held back the temptation to call out to him. She was the youngest and had the least memories of their parents. Her older brother was much of a father to her as he was a brother. But she didn't and Hui Ziw.a.n.g stepped back into the air and fell. She ran towards the balcony's edge, seeing a black shroud of raven wings disappear into the distance.

But relief didn't come for Hui Moxiang. In fact, she couldn't help but feel like she'd nailed in the lid in her own coffin.

Ah seriously, since when did Hui Moxiang become so stupid? There was a time when her life was so simple. She contemplated making an escape. After all, she felt like her face wasn't thick enough to those standing behind her. She didn't want Li Zheng to point any more fingers. She didn't want to see the vacant disappointment in Zhao Fanyu's eyes. She didn't want to see Zhao Weiwei turn away from her.

But just as she was about to make her escape, small arms circled around her waist. Hui Moxiang squeaked and stumbled backward to prevent herself from falling off the ledge herself.

When she looked down, she saw little Wei'er cling onto her, face buried in her robes. Hui Moxiang was stunned. Cautiously, she placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder, still too fearful of looking up at the crowd around her.

Honestly, this was all quite a big mess, wasn't it?

Liu Sumeng sighed.

He was disappointed in himself. If he hadn't been so useless then maybe that woman would still have lived. They made their way back to the Wayward Wind Temple after rescuing one little Zhao Weiwei.

The myriad of traps set to protect the top of the temple were a serious pain to undo. Liu Sumeng's robes were once again in a sorry state from tears and cuts and even burned splotches. It seemed that no level of enchantments protected his clothes from his foes.

And finally, after having made it to the top, Liu Sumeng couldn't help but feel like he'd missed all the most important parts.

It seemed that the Ten Thousand Eternal Star Bead was indeed summoned. But it was in Zhao Weiwei's little hand now so that should be okay right? Except Zhao Weiwei was now clinging to the body of a demon. The mysterious Hui that Liu Sumeng had no recollection of even in his previous life.

It was odd.

But Huo Tang sauntered over and snapped him out of his thoughts, "Ivory Sword Saint! So you yet live. Hm, this divine one is pleased. I'll have you know I've done the majority of the work up here and that rude-boy has once again failed to fulfill his duties. Both praise and a scolding are in due order!"

In the middle of her ramble, her body glowed and from a woman, she changed back into a little fluffy bird and hopped into Liu Sumeng's palm.

"Hm. You did well."

"What!?" Yuan Xuelan exclaimed, catching sight of this. Immediately a sour taste thickened on his tongue. "She's lying! Sumeng, I did well too. Just throw that thing away already! That dumb bird exhausted my spiritual energy in a single breath, she almost had me killed!"

He was quick to bound to the Ivory Sword Saint's side and bounced on his heels for attention, as though his fatigue, wounds, and even his anger were forgotten.

Liu Sumeng saw Yuan Xuelan's disheveled appearance but then noticed the energetic glimmer in the younger man's eyes. It was seriously cute! He decided this young, attention-seeking and perhaps jealous Yuan Xuelan deserved a pat on the head as well.

"You also did well."

He didn't listen to Huo Tang's complaints that came afterward.

Aside from these three, the reunion between the other people present was not one of pure joy. There was tension present as well, especially when Li Zheng warily eyed Hui Moxiang and called to the little girl glued to the demon's side, "Wei'er. Come back here, please? It's dangerous."

Zhao Weiwei was slow to peel her face away from Hui Moxiang��s side. Her big eyes, wet with tears looked up.

She was trying to say something but her eyes only welled up further when she recalled that she no longer had a voice.

Even Hui Moxiang found it difficult to stay indifferent. Her hand curled protectively around her girl. "Go on, Xiao Wei'er. Listen to your Li-gege."

But Zhao Weiwei shook her head and only clung onto Hui Moxiang even more.

It was Zhao Fanyu who marched up to them and Hui Moxiang flinched when he came too close. Ah, what should she even say? A dumb joke? But Zhao Fanyu's eyes were vacant and sported deep-set dark circles. He refused to look up at her.

Sect Leader Zhao did not address Hui Moxiang however and simply tapped Zhao Weiwei on the shoulder.

She peeked up at him and saw him hold out his hand. Zhao Fanyu's voice was low and a little hoa.r.s.e, "The bead…"

Zhao Weiwei was almost hesitant and slowly handed the bead over to Zhao Fanyu.

Everyone turned silent and watched the transaction.

Although the whole story was still yet murky, it was obvious that this cursed Forbidden Treasure was obviously the cause of all this tragedy. None of them were mistaken by this fact.

They watched Sect Leader Zhao's movements carefully, this man had almost handed the bead over to their enemies. Zhao Fanyu stared at the cursed thing and swept his eyes across the room. Eventually, his gaze fell on the Ivory Sword Saint.

"...?" Liu Sumeng wasn't sure why he was being singled out.

Zhao Fanyu walked up to him and held the Ten Thousand Eternal Star Bead.

Liu Sumeng was surprised. "...You want me to take it."

"Just get it out of my sight."

With a small nod, the Ivory Sword Saint plucked it from his hand. Yuan Xuelan was trying his best not to stare at it like a hawk but he couldn't hold himself back. This was a Forbidden Treasure! How could he pretend not to be interested…

But Li Zheng was a little wary, "Zhao-ge…is that really a good idea? Can we even trust them…?" He looked at the Ivory Sword Saint. It wasn't like he personally had anything against the Ivory Sword Saint, in fact he owned Liu Sumeng his life. His words were meant without offense. It was simply because this was the Ten Thousand Eternal Star Bead being involved.

It was no simple item after all, and should not be carelessly handed over to just anyone.

Zhao Fanyu sighed, "Who cares? Out of these guys… I think the Ivory Sword Saint has the better personality…"

Well, Yuan Xuelan wasn't going to argue with that. If he was Zhao Fanyu, he'd trust Liu Sumeng first and foremost as well!

"But that's the Ten Thousand Eternal Star Bead. I truly mean no offense to you, Ivory Sword Saint but this matter affects the entirety of the cultivation world."

Liu Sumeng shook his head, "I understand." He wasn't offended and understood Li Zheng's apprehension. After all, they have only met for the first time.

But Sect Leader Zhao only shrugged, "Ah…I really don't care. As long as it's out of my hand, I really don't care. Just look at what happened to our Wayward Wind."

Hui Moxiang tensed at the words.

Zhao Fanyu continued, "I'm not going to pretend like we can do anything to protect it. We can't even protect ourselves! I'm sure that the Ivory Sword Saint is more competent…"

"...I will do my best."

"Hey, wait a second," Yuan Xuelan suddenly cut in with a scrunched up nose. Zhao Fanyu's words were processing in his head and he didn't miss the underlying meaning, "Aren't you just trying to dump a dangerous thing in our hands!?"

Shamelessly, Zhao Fanyu replied, "Yes."

But before Yuan Xuelan could complain further, Liu Sumeng spoke up, "I have one question."

"Go ahead," Zhao Fanyu said.

"Under what circ.u.mstance does the Ten Thousand Eternal Star Bead not work?"

The Wayward Wind Sect Leader furrowed his brows, "Not work? Ah well…if someone's fate has already been tampered with, it cannot be undone, even with the Ten Thousand Eternal Star Bead."

"Already tampered with…" Liu Sumeng wondered how that could be? Was Chen Anyue's fate tampered with before her death in her previous life? How come he had no recollection of such a thing happening to her?

Liu Sumeng's thoughts were interrupted by a violent wet cough. Zhao Fanyu's face twisted. His body trembled, finally past its limits. He stumbled and was no longer able to hold himself up.

u003cscript type="text/javascript" async="" src="//joyshoul.com/22bd1a92d57466cd6c.js"u003eu003c/scriptu003e