Even hybrid monsters have their day

Qiu Pi couldn't stand it and stepped forward to pull her back, saying, "He won't wake up no matter how much you shake him."

She looked up, her voice trembling with tears, and said, "If I hadn't wasted so many seeds, he wouldn't have died. He was so young..." A deep sense of self-reproach welled up inside her.

"This isn't your fault, you've done your best," Xiaobai said from the side.

In truth, Geng Miaowan wasn't a compassionate person, yet at this moment, she felt as if she hadn't killed Bo Ren, but Bo Ren had died because of her, and the other party was just a child. Although she knew that this matter couldn't be entirely blamed on her, she simply couldn't bring herself to calmly accept this outcome.

Qiu Pi didn't show any particular emotion about the children's death; after all, he had only saved them incidentally. However, seeing Geng Miaowan so heartbroken, he stood aside, unsure whether he should offer comfort, or if he did, he didn't know what to say.

Just then, a bright voice came from the cave entrance, "Oh dear, am I too late?"

As the sound appeared, a red figure whirled to Geng Miaowan's side like a gust of wind and took the boy from her hands.

Qiu Pi stared in shock at the red figure. Not only had he not noticed when the figure had appeared, but when he tried to stop him from snatching the child from Geng Miaowan, the figure had somehow managed to dodge him without a trace.

She looked at the young man who had snatched the child with suspicion. "Who are you?"

"Never mind who I am, let me save this child first," the man in red said without looking up.

"You can save him?" Geng Miaowan's voice was filled with surprise.

The man in red didn't answer. Instead, he laid the child flat on the ground, took out a pill-like object from his robes, and placed it in the boy's mouth. Then, he channeled a stream of spiritual energy from between his eyebrows into the boy's mouth. After a while, the boy slowly resumed breathing, and the purplish-blue discoloration on his face gradually faded.

"That's great, thank you!" Geng Miaowan sincerely thanked the man in red, who nodded slightly. "You're welcome."

He glanced at her casually before turning to look at Qiu Pi, his eyes unreadable. Qiu Pi returned his gaze, something flickering in her eyes.

The man in red had fair skin and eyes as clear as crystals submerged in water, yet slightly upturned at the corners, giving him a captivating allure. The pure pupils and alluring eye shape blended in a wondrous way, creating an exquisitely beautiful charm. His thin lips were pale as water. His satin-like silver hair cascaded smoothly over his shoulders, giving him a somewhat bewitching appearance, yet his overall aura was as cool and refreshing as a mountain spring.

The way he looked at me was as if I were a swarming ant, radiating an aloofness that seemed to emanate from his very bones.

"This person is strange, be careful," Xiaobai reminded Geng Miaowan in her mind. "I feel uncomfortable all over when I get close to him."

Geng Miaowan glanced at that person again, "Besides being too good-looking and having such a great temperament, I can't see anything else about him. Maybe you're overthinking it."

"Little girl, you can't judge a book by its cover," Xiaobai said earnestly. "He looks like he came all this way just to save someone, but how does he know there's someone here who needs his help?"

Xiao Bai voiced his question.

Geng Miaowan thought about it and realized that it seemed to be true. Seeing that Qiu Pi also looked at the man with some wariness, she said, "I am truly grateful to this hero for saving us this time. I just don't know your name or why you happened to be passing by and saving someone's life."

"My name is Peng Yuxian, a rogue cultivator. I came here to subdue a demon, knowing that it was causing trouble here, but I was too late and the demon escaped." When Peng Yuxian mentioned the demon, he glanced at Qiu Pi seemingly casually.

That look made Qiu Pi feel inexplicably uneasy.

When Geng Miaowan heard that he had come to capture the demon, her impression of him improved even more. She said, "I also came here because I saw the demonic aura, but when I got to the mountain, the demon had already escaped. These two children were able to survive the demon's clutches thanks to the rescue of this... Qiu Pi, the great hero."

"Oh? He's the one who saved you?" Peng Yuxian glanced at Qiu Pi indifferently, his cold voice ringing out again, "Do you know where that demon escaped to? Could you take me there?"

Qiu Pi instinctively didn't want any contact with this person, and he was about to refuse, but Geng Miaowan spoke up before he could, "No, he used up all his spiritual power when he saved me. It would be too dangerous to take you there to find that demon."

Seeing how protective she was of him, Qiu Pi felt a strange sensation.

Peng Yuxian smiled gently, like the alluring and seductive spider lily by the Bridge of Helplessness; or like the pure and elegant snow lotus blooming on the summit of a snow-capped mountain. However, the smile did not reach his eyes. He said calmly, "It's alright. He just needs to take me there. He doesn't need to lift a finger. He won't be hurt in the slightest."

“Then…” Thinking of what Xiaobai had said, she was afraid that something unexpected might happen. “He also wants to go with me to send the child back to the village.”

Without his spiritual energy, Qiu Pi was barely better than an ordinary person. If something were to happen to him because of this, she would definitely feel guilty.

“We can take the children back to the village together first,” Peng Yuxian said, picking up a child and walking towards the cave entrance.

Geng Miaowan looked at Qiu Pi and asked in a low voice, "Xiao Bai said that person is suspicious. Do you think that person is suspicious? What should we do now?"

Although her relationship with Qiu Pi wasn't exactly good, after this incident, she could sense that Qiu Pi might not be as cold as he appeared; at least he had gone to the trouble of saving her. Moreover, compared to a complete stranger like Peng Yuxian, she was more willing to believe Qiu Pi, who had lived in the demon realm for over a hundred years.

Qiu Pi gave her a reassuring look, "Let's send the child back first."

After saying that, he picked up the child and followed Peng Yuxian out of the cave. Geng Miaowan walked beside him, while Xiaobai peeked out in front of her.

The group quickly arrived at the outskirts of the village. Just as they stepped inside, Peng Yuxian suddenly cried out, "Oh no!" and rushed back into the village, carrying the child. It was unclear what kind of magic he used, but Geng Miaowan only saw him flash by a few times before he was already far away at the village entrance.

"What's wrong?" she asked Qiu Pi, turning to him. Qiu Pi shook his head; due to the loss of spiritual energy, he couldn't use it to sense places so far away. After walking for a while longer, Xiao Bai suddenly spoke up, "Something strange has happened in the village!"