The First Venerable of the Prosperous Age

Lu Xiaosan rushed to the door, but the green fox woman was no longer there…

He glanced around the empty room again. "Damn it, where did that guy go! Did he get kidnapped? Wait for me..."

He was halfway through his sentence when his eyes inadvertently glanced at the doorway.

His pupils dilated involuntarily, and his whole body trembled as if struck by lightning!

Wen Ying, panting, hurriedly followed in. "Why are you in such a hurry? Didn't we agree not to come in?" She was about to apologize when she didn't see Qinghu Nu.

Lu Xiaosan just stared intently at the door, the shocked expression etched on his face.

"Could it be..." Wen Ying took two steps back in fright, swallowed hard, and finally bit her lip, slowly shifting her gaze to the door.

Everything went as she expected. The yellow fox's corpse was intact, but next to it was the corpse of a blue fox with its eyes closed and its pointed snout slightly open.

The blue fox, its head pressed against the wall, saw drops of blood trickling down the wall from above, "drip, drip," slowly pooling into a pool of red blood among the corpses...

"How could this be..." Wen Ying's body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground, staring in disbelief at everything before her.

A fox demon with over a thousand years of cultivation actually committed suicide for love...

Furthermore, to prevent the two children from interfering, they even fabricated such a foolish lie as absorbing cultivation power…

An hour later, in the distant mountains and forests:

A withered leaf, carrying a touch of desolation, gently drifted down and landed on the blonde girl's shoulder.

The girl stared blankly as the two fox corpses before her were slowly buried in the yellow earth…

Beside the mound of yellow earth, the bald man patted his mud-covered hands, his expression solemn. "This... is it alright now..."

Wen Ying took a deep breath, a tear sliding down her sky-blue eye, and murmured, "I... should have noticed her abnormality sooner... if I had noticed sooner... perhaps she... wouldn't have died..."

Her eyes were filled with tears, and she bit her lip tightly, as if she was about to burst into tears at any moment...

Lu Xiaosan walked to her side, but for some reason, despite having a bellyful of sweet words to say, he couldn't utter a single one...

He felt sorry for the two foxes, but was also comforted by the fox demon's infatuation.

But he also believes that the death of this blue fox served as a good warning to him to some extent:

If I continue to spout sweet nothings, I might end up like this green fox, burdened by love.

Losing one's life is one thing, but to die trapped in the shackles of love, without the freedom to die—that is absolutely unacceptable…

Therefore, he decided to continue with his previous plan: to forcibly suppress his feelings for Wen Ying…

He didn't know that emotions can only be gradually diluted over time. Suppressing them will only make them stronger and more intense, eventually erupting exponentially.

He was unaware that being burdened by emotions is something everyone in this world inevitably experiences—familial love, friendship, romantic love…

He was already burdened by love, wanting to save Chang'an and protect Wen Ying, but he was still immersed in the fantasy of absolute freedom...

So when Wen Ying couldn't help but cover her face and cry in self-blame, he chose to stand beside her without saying a word.

If he didn't have these strange and foolish thoughts in his mind, he probably wouldn't have been able to resist holding him in his arms and saying lots of comforting words...

At least it won't be like this now, seeing her with her thin body, sobbing alone in the cold wind.

He remained silent, his heart heavy with bitterness…

He only breathed a sigh of relief when Wen Ying stopped sobbing and put her hands down.

This is the real him, that incredibly carefree and unrestrained young man, and he will continue to do so in the future, only he knows the pain involved…

Lu Xiaosan asked expressionlessly, "Are you done crying?"

With tears in her eyes, Wen Ying nodded gently…

A gentle breeze blew, softly lifting her hood and causing the thousands of golden threads on her shoulders to flutter gently.

She gently brushed her hair behind her ear, and a crystal-clear tear slid down her fair cheek.

Lu Xiaosan's heart skipped a beat, and she was completely mesmerized...

Only after Wen Ying slightly turned her head, tossed her hair, and looked at him with teary eyes did he snap out of his daze, clenching his fists tightly. "No!"

Out of sight, out of mind, he left Wen Ying behind and strode westward.

Wen Ying looked bewildered, wiped away her tears, put on her hood, and quickly followed.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Wen Ying asked from behind.

"West!"

Wen Ying was startled. "You're going to find that mysterious person?"

"Must be killed!"

Wen Ying followed behind, her face full of worry, "But...can you beat him? Didn't you say these prayer beads can only..."

"If you're afraid, just wait for me here!" Lu Xiaosan interrupted ruthlessly.

"Huh?" Wen Ying looked puzzled and confused. "Why is he suddenly like this?" She shook her head helplessly and followed after him.

Throughout the journey, Lu Xiaosan spoke coldly to her, a far cry from the meticulous care she had shown before.

While doing so brought him inner satisfaction, he also felt distressed whenever he saw Wen Ying's expression, which was full of doubt and slightly angry.

So whenever Wen Ying asked him what happened, he would avoid eye contact and become increasingly confused: what was the point of torturing himself like this?

Since we can't find the answer by racking our brains, let's keep moving forward.

The two headed west along the rugged mountain path.

Suddenly, a cry of an eagle, loud enough to tear the sky apart, rang out from ahead.

Looking up at the sky, one could see a powerful eagle soaring in the setting sun. In the blink of an eye, this sleek black figure swooped down to a high platform below.

"That's it!" The two quickened their pace simultaneously.

After traversing the forest, atop a high rock, one could see a purple halo rising into the sky from the center of a platform below. Within the halo lay a majestic eagle, with four fledglings beneath its wings, eagerly awaiting their meal…

This eagle was entirely white with a pair of crimson eyes. Despite being in adversity, it still exuded a powerful and aloof aura.

At that moment, the white eagle suddenly took flight, soaring proudly toward the circle of light with the air of a king.

But just as they touched, a ripple spread across the purple waves, and a huge shockwave shook it down from the sky to the ground.

After the white eagle fell to the ground, it didn't delay. It immediately rolled to its feet, shook its feathers, flapped its wings, and, ignoring the pain, flew to another spot in the circle of light.

The purple halo was formed by four purple crystals stained with red blood on the ground. Each of the four crystals shone a purple arc upwards, forming four halos that trapped the white eagle within.

Outside the circle of light, a man in black stood with his hands behind his back. Even though his face was half-covered, one could tell how smug he looked.

"This must be the guy!"

Lu Xiaosan gritted his teeth, filled with rage, and strode heavily toward the circle of light.

Wen Ying followed him cautiously, afraid that she might say or do something wrong and offend him.

Halfway there, still quite a distance away, the man in black suddenly turned around and said coldly, "You've finally arrived."

Lu Xiaosan tilted his head, his eyes filled with murderous intent, "You were waiting for me?"

"Hmph, you're the one who killed my wisteria, aren't you? I saw it all, quite the spectacle..."

The man in black sneered again, "Then, that blue fox probably couldn't take the shock and is already dead... Hmph, how stupid."

"I'm here to get revenge, aren't I? I'll take my revenge here, and then I'll send you to Qinghu so she can take her revenge again. What do you say?" Lu Xiaosan sneered.

The man in black suddenly threw his head back and laughed, "It really is dead, just as stupid as this white eagle."

Upon seeing Bai Ying's strange behavior, Lu Xiaosan coldly asked, "What did you do to Bai Ying?"

"Hehe, I didn't do anything. It risked its life so much, without resting for even a second, just to find a way for its child to escape."

"Hahaha, this white eagle will soon crash into my circle and die because it's in such a hurry to save its chicks. Aren't these beasts all incredibly stupid! Hahaha!" the man in black sneered.

Lu Xiaosan glanced sideways at the white eagle that was constantly hitting walls for its offspring. Wen Ying gently tugged at his sleeve from behind and said, "Please save them..."

"I know it without you having to tell me!"

Wen Ying gave him another cold look, but she remained calm and whispered in his ear, "Be careful. After all, he can sense you from so far away. He must be someone special."

Before Lu Xiaosan could answer, the man in black laughed first, "Miss, I was able to sense him early on because of his stench, not because I'm particularly skilled. Besides, look at you, so beautiful, why would you want to be with such a filthy person? Why don't you..."

A loud bang interrupted him.

His eyes widened as he witnessed an unbelievable scene: his aura had been lightly touched by the Buddhist beads casually tossed to him by the monk, and the four purple crystals he had searched for for many years had shattered into dust...

"You!" The man in black turned around angrily, but immediately froze, because he had never seen such an angry person before.

As the sun set, Lu Xiaosan lowered his head slightly, his entire face shrouded in shadow, leaving only his pair of crimson eyes blazing with boundless killing intent. "Kill!" That was the only word that remained in his entire being.

"What did you just say you wanted her for?" His voice was icy cold, like a sharp arrow, so sharp it could pierce a person's heart at any moment!

The man in black looked astonished and involuntarily took a step back. "You..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Xiaosan suddenly raised three fingers, his bald head contorted in an extremely ferocious expression, and roared, "I'll kill you within three steps! I'll scatter your ashes!!!"