Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Lan Jian lightly touched the gray-black branches of the vine with his fingertips, and the gray branches turned into fragments and fell down.

He recalled how Si Yuan had watered and fertilized this flowering vine. The young man's eyes lit up as he clumsily watered the vine, muttering to himself about how slowly it was growing. Everyone said that flowering vines were very easy to grow, that they would sprout as soon as they touched the ground, but the one he had found was still only a tiny little thing, its leaves not even as vibrant green as the others, looking withered and lifeless.

He once laughed at Si Yuan for insisting on being forced into this relationship, even saying that he didn't want to be a matchmaker for him.

Although Si Yuan was very annoyed, he still carefully tended to the flowering vine, hoping to wait for it to grow and bloom before sending it to his beloved.

Even when he hurriedly left after the collapse of the Mountain and Sea Realm, he did not forget to take this Flower-Turning Vine with him.

However, when he later arrived in the human realm, he had two rare meetings with Si Yuan, and the latter never mentioned the Flower-Turning Vine again. He thought that the Flower-Turning Vine had finally been killed by him.

"Pity."

A faint trace of sorrow appeared in Lan Jian's eyes.

It's a pity that Si Yuan has been raising this flowering vine for so long, but he has never seen it grow up.

Unfortunately, this flowering vine, which had finally come to life and followed Si Yuan, was tainted with turbid energy and became an evil creature.

Even more tragically, Si Yuan died without being able to give this flowering vine to his beloved.

Since the collapse of the Mountain and Sea Realm, Lan Jian has deliberately avoided thinking about those old friends and stories.

The deceased are gone, but those who remain must move on; reminiscing only adds to the sorrow.

But perhaps Si Yuan's sudden appearance triggered his sealed memories. Looking at the vines polluted by the turbid air, he suddenly felt a sense of sorrow for his own kind.

He looked down at the gray-black debris remaining on his fingertips, a deep, dark feeling swirling in his eyes.

Xu Lingguang stood beside him, only to see him crush a branch of the twig of the twig and then stare blankly into space. His half-closed eyelashes obscured the light in his eyes, so Xu Lingguang couldn't discern his emotions, but he felt that the aura around him had become much colder.

It was as if snow had suddenly started falling on the mountaintop.

The smell of gunpowder was hidden beneath the cold snow.

Xu Lingguang keenly sensed the danger.

He hesitated slightly, then carefully took out a handkerchief and handed it over: "Senior Chongxue?"

The familiar voice freed Lan Jian from the shackles of those inescapable memories. Lan Jian came back to her senses, took the handkerchief Xu Lingguang handed her, wiped the dust off her fingertips, and said softly, "Try not to touch these flowering vines. The foul air they carry seems to be contagious."

He was moved for a moment, but after detaching himself from the scene, he realized that he had been lingering in those dark emotions for too long, and that there was something turbid in them.

If even he could fall into a trap by accident, then Xu Lingguang and the others would only be in greater danger.

Lan Jian frowned and said bluntly, "You'd better find a place far away from the Flower-Turning Vine to hide. I will find a way to resolve the anomaly in Fengling City."

Xu Lingguang's spirits immediately lifted when he heard that he would find a way to resolve the anomaly. Completely ignoring the first half of his sentence, he pressed on, "Senior Chongxue, do you have a solution?"

Dongyang Li and Chai Feng also looked at him with high hopes, though their cultivation was insufficient and their abilities were limited.

But the owner of Qianjin Tower is different.

He must have a way.

Lan Jian was somewhat helpless and could only think, "The strange events in Fengling City may be related to the Qilin. If we find the Qilin, all the problems will naturally be solved."

Si Yuan has indeed perished; there is no doubt about it.

But now the vines of the tumbleweed have returned in pursuit, the Qilin has reappeared, and there's more...

Lan Jian glanced at Amei in Xu Lingguang's arms, narrowed her eyes slightly, and fell into thought.

Dongyang Li, who was listening from behind, thought, "Isn't this exactly what they were planning?"

They knew they needed to find the Qilin, but Fengling City was so vast, and now these vines were growing everywhere, making the terrain of Fengling City several times more complex than before. The Qilin was not something they could just find so easily.

This is just nonsense.

Dongyang inwardly scoffed, but outwardly still respectfully asked, "What you say makes sense, senior. May I ask where you plan to find the Qilin?"

Lan Jian glanced at him but ignored him. She looked at Xu Lingguang and said, "Put it on the ground and let it walk by itself."

Xu Lingguang was taken aback: "Amei?"

Lan Jian nodded.

Xu Lingguang was puzzled, but he still did as he was told and put Amei on the ground. Amei was obviously unwilling, lying on the ground like a tattered mop, not moving at all.

Lan Jian looked down at him and said, "Hurry up, pick a direction to go."

Amei remained motionless, pretending to be dead.

Lan Jian finally lost her patience, grabbed its fur with two fingers, lifted it up, and shook it coldly: "Walk by yourself, or should I help you?"

Amei, who had been playing dead, finally moved. She slowly swayed, indicating that she was willing to leave.

Lan Jian threw it on the ground without any politeness.

Amei rolled around on the ground, and finally, reluctantly, she chose a direction and rolled forward.

Lan Jian glanced at Xu Lingguang and waited for him to join her: "Let's go. If we follow it, we might find the Qilin."

Xu Lingguang obediently said "Oh" and followed along.

Dongyang Li watched this outrageous operation from the very beginning and finally couldn't help but whisper to Chai Feng, "Do you think this is reliable?"

Chai Feng spoke frankly: "He doesn't seem very reliable, but maybe he knows something we don't."

For example, the origin of Ame.

Qin Long only said that Amei was picked up from the roadside, but never mentioned Amei's breed.

However, Chongxue said that Amei was his friend's spirit pet... Regardless of whether the statement is true or false, the current situation at least proves that he does know Amei, and Amei's reaction also suggests that she knows him.

Chai Feng said, "Don't be impatient, let's go and see what's going on."

The four followed Amei through the branches of the giant vine. The further they went, the denser and thicker the vine became. Chai Feng deduced that they were quite close to the center of the vine, so they began to set up a spirit fire array as they walked.

They were initially wary of the heavy snow and hadn't revealed their plans in full.

However, it seems that Chongxue has no ill intentions and does want to get out of Fengling City's predicament. So they stopped being wary of him. They thought he would ask a few questions after he noticed, but along the way, he didn't ask any questions and didn't even turn his head once. He was too lazy to pay attention to what the two people behind him were doing.

While setting up the spirit fire array, Dongyang Li glanced at the two people in front of him.

The more I looked at it, the more something seemed off.

He nudged Chai Feng with his elbow, gesturing for him to look: "Hey, look, why do you think he keeps looking at Xu Lingguang?"

Dongyang Li slowly frowned and said incredulously, "He wouldn't actually have taken a liking to Xu Lingguang, would he?"

He recalled the rumors surrounding the owner of Qianjin Tower, his brows furrowing so deeply they could trap a fly: "Could it really be like what I said? I was just joking. With his cultivation level, he must be at least several thousand years old, right?"

Dongyang tried to count the age difference between them on his fingers, but found that he couldn't figure it out at all.

"This can't be described as a generational difference. With such a large age gap, he could be Xu Lingguang's ancestor. If what I'm thinking is true, wouldn't that be incredibly disrespectful to elders?"