This Life's Song: The Genius Rune Master

The search continued unsuccessfully throughout the night.

"Junior sister, where are you? Why do you keep scaring me? Waaah, waaah." Lu Yaorao couldn't hold back anymore. Ever since her master entrusted her with her junior sister, she had disappeared twice. She couldn't explain to her master, and she didn't even know if her junior sister was safe. She couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Um... Xue'er's senior sister, don't cry yet, take a look at this." Yan Feng hesitated before calling out to Lu Yaorao.

Lu Yaorao opened her teary eyes and looked over. "This belongs to my junior sister! Where did you find it? Tell me!" Lu Yaorao excitedly grabbed a light purple ribbon, then grabbed Yan Feng's sleeve and asked loudly.

"Don't get excited, I found it by the river over there," Yan Feng said, pointing to a spot.

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt two gusts of wind pass by. Upon closer inspection, he saw Xue'er's senior sister and the young man, who had already arrived at the location he had mentioned.

Seeing this, the others also came to that spot.

Looking at the rushing river, Lu Yaorao felt a chill in her heart and her body trembled.

"Xue'er will be alright, let's search along the river," Qin Muzhou said urgently.

Although excited, Lu Yaorao's thoughts were not disordered. She saw footprints on the riverbank, two pairs of footprints, one large and one small. The large footprints should be those of a man, and the small footprints seemed to be those of a woman, but she did not see her junior sister's footprints.

The man's footprints were likely made by the person who had just discovered the clue, because the footprints were very shallow.

Even if there were other footprints, they were trampled and made indistinguishable by the arrival of the crowd.

The woman's footprints looked as if she had jumped into the river and made them.

Why do I think so? Because of the footprints.

If someone is washing something by the water, their footprints will be shallower, with the toes being deeper.

If a person is thrown into a river, the footprints will be very deep, but the heel will be the point of contact, so the heel print will be deeper, or the footprints will be separated.

However, this footprint was the opposite; the woman's weight was limited, making it impossible for her to have stepped that deep. (You could also say she was overweight, but cultivators generally have standard physiques, so please don't be offended.)

The footprints on the riverbank were very clear; the heel prints were much shallower than the forefoot prints, but deeper than normal footprints.

The toes point downwards and deeper, clearly indicating that the force is applied with the toes.

Judging from the situation, Lu Yaorao felt that this matter was not simple, as if someone had carried Lianxue into the river.

And with one person missing from their team, the suspect...

Lu Yaorao cried silently.

Others who saw it only felt sorry for him and offered words of advice.

"You have to trust your junior sister. Not finding her is the best outcome. At least it proves..." Qin Muzhou looked at the alluring woman in front of him, tears streaming down her face, and spoke again.

"That girl is shrewd; she might have hidden somewhere," Xia Lan said, trying to get attention, her eyes darting around unconsciously.

"Xia Lan, can you shut up? Don't you know how hard Xue'er is trying to see her senior sister?" Shao Liang scolded Xia Lan.

"I didn't say anything, I just comforted her, what's wrong with that?" Xia Lan looked aggrieved. Normally, any man would have softened, but at this moment...

Lu Yaorao looked at the woman in front of her. She remembered that when she opened the barrier, this woman was not there, and she even deliberately pointed in the opposite direction. She couldn't help but think it was impossible.

Qi Nianbei frowned as he looked at the affected woman, a seed of doubt sprouting in his heart.

"What else do you want to say? She risked her life to break through the barrier to find her senior sister, how could she leave just when she was about to succeed? Just shut up if you're not going to mislead people." Qin Muzhou's expression was serious, and his voice rose. He also felt that this junior sister had gone too far. Not helping before was one thing, but now…

"I...I really didn't mean it, I just wanted to comfort you..." Xia Lan cried as she spoke, tears streaming down her face, feeling incredibly wronged.

"You two keep arguing, I'm going to find my junior sister, so I'm not keeping you company." Lu Yaorao didn't want to see them there, so she quickly left, arguing back and forth.

"Senior Sister Lu, are you alright? Let's go together." Qi Nianbei hurriedly followed after her.

*

At this moment, in a river, under a faint yellow light, two figures floated up and down.

Just as the two fell into the water, the blood mole between Lian Xue's eyebrows flashed red. Just as the light was about to intensify, a yellow light shot out from Lian Xue's phoenix bracelet, enveloping the two and isolating them from the water. The blood mole dimmed again, and no one noticed it.

With the protection of the light shield, the two would not die from lack of oxygen.

Drifting away along the river.

Lianxue felt as if she were in a black world. She kept searching for an exit, but all around her was endless blackness, with no moonlight, no stars, and not even a glimmer of light.

She wondered what had happened, where she was, and how she had ended up there. The pitch-black, claustrophobic environment was terrifying.

Lianxue felt as if she were walking forward with her eyes closed. She was not afraid of the darkness, but she was afraid of the unknown creatures in the darkness.

In the face of endless fear, a person loses all judgment, their mind becomes tense, like a taut string that will snap at a certain point.

Just as Lian Xue began to feel extremely tense, a voice came from the darkness.

"Child, live well, there's no need for revenge."

The sound seemed very, very far away, almost ethereal, as if it had been there for centuries.

Lianxue shuddered at the sound, but after understanding what the voice said, she slowly relaxed. She thought she might have entered another illusion created by some powerful being.

Overwhelmed by fear, she thought of her senior sister, her master, her mother, and her brother, and a sense of helplessness welled up inside her.

No one knows what Lianxue went through after she disappeared.

On the edge of the Ghost Forest, there was a small village with about a hundred households. At this moment, wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys, indicating that it was dinnertime. Someone was clucking chicks in the yard, scattering grain from a winnowing basket, and the chickens flew over to peck at the rice.

There are couples working together at the stove, one adding fuel and the other cooking.

Some were carrying shelves back from afar.

The fodder is placed in the manger in front of the stable.

A toddler, just over two years old, was chasing a dog, while several children were playing.

Of course, there were also some cultivators, all of whom lived in individual wooden huts.

The log cabin is made of stacked logs, and even the roof is made of round logs. The chimney is made of stacked stones, making it look simple yet beautiful.

A girl of about fifteen years old was sitting on a simple wooden bridge built by the river.

She had her eyes closed, her legs crossed, and her hands resting on her knees; it turned out she was cultivating here.

A whirlwind of spiritual energy spun around the girl, with rays of colorful light merging into it.

The girl reached out, let out a long sigh of relief, opened her eyes, jumped up, looked up at the sky, and felt very comfortable looking at the bright moon and sparse stars. After relaxing, she turned around and prepared to go home.

As she turned around, she caught a glimpse of an unidentified object on the riverbank out of the corner of her eye. Out of curiosity, she couldn't help but slowly move over to it.

As you walk over, you see a fishing net with something inside.

Upon approaching and seeing the pink fabric, the girl hesitated for a moment but then went over.

The girl opened the fishing net, and a person immediately appeared inside. "Ah!"

The girl screamed in fright, disturbing the people in the yard.

"What's wrong, Bai family girl? Why are you so panicked?" A middle-aged man was the first to come over and ask.

"What happened?" A woman carrying a child rushed over.

"What happened to Bai Yatou?" the old man asked hurriedly.

An elderly man with a white beard walked over, leaning on a cane. "What's wrong? Is there an enemy attack?"

"Then...then...look." After the girl finished speaking, she turned her head away, not daring to look anymore. She didn't know whether the person was dead or alive. After seeing it, she was so frightened that she jumped back a long distance.