Nonsense! How could my adopted son be a villain?

Lan Jian then led the cubs forward. He stood nearby and stared intently at Zhou Fuying, who had already fainted. He did not listen to Xu Lingguang's advice to carry the person, but instead frowned and stared at his chest, saying, "Let's take a look at your injuries first."

Xu Lingguang was not seriously injured, but the wound was not treated in time and he bled a lot. The blood soaked through his clothes and looked a bit scary.

Seeing that Lan Jian and the cubs were staring at him intently, as if they wouldn't give up until they saw the extent of his injuries, Xu Lingguang had no choice but to pull down his shirt to reveal the wound. He said with some helplessness, "It really didn't hit any vital organs, it just looks scary."

Lan Jian gazed at the wound on his chest, gently touching it with her fingers and channeling her spiritual power to heal him.

Xu Lingguang originally wanted to say that such a minor injury could be cured with a healing pill, but seeing his furrowed brows and unhappy expression, he silently swallowed his words and let Lan Jian heal him.

With the healing power of spiritual energy, the wound on Lan Jian's chest quickly healed and scabbed over. Only then did Lan Jian stop, but his expression still looked unhappy, and his occasional glances at Zhou Fuying were filled with murderous intent.

Jiongyou was clearly on Lanjian's side, and said indignantly, "He's a bad person, why save him?"

Xu Lingguang didn't want the kids to harbor resentment, so he thought for a moment and explained seriously, "He's also my apprentice, he wasn't always this bad."

"And he didn't come to kill me at all; he came to die."

Xu Lingguang glanced at Zhou Fuying with a complicated expression. Combining Zhou Fuying's previous words with the information Yu Yun had revealed, he now roughly understood Zhou Fuying's mentality. Speechless, he felt a little sad and said, "He is actually quite pitiful. If it weren't for his father's lingering spirit, constantly forcing him to seek revenge on me, he wouldn't have ended up in this state."

Being unable to live and unable to die is probably a good description of Zhou Fuying's current situation.

He carried the burden of his parents' blood feud, and the vengeful spirit of his father constantly urged him not to forget the blood feud.

Even the last remaining spirit of Xu Lingguang dissipated in an attempt to save him. Even if Zhou Fuying knew that Xu Lingguang had been replaced, he probably couldn't accept or face it. He could only do everything he could to kill Xu Lingguang to fulfill his father's last wish, as his father had hoped.

But he wasn't a ruthless person after all; he even tried to reconcile with Xu Lingguang at one point.

With this back-and-forth struggle, even the most normal person would be driven crazy.

He was perhaps tired of this kind of life, so he came to Xu Lingguang seeking death.

But as Xu Lingguang said, even though he knew that the other party was determined to die in order to find relief, he still couldn't bear to watch a precious life be lost in his hands, and could only let Zhou Fuying's hopes be dashed.

Hearing Xu Lingguang's explanation, Jiongyou still pouted unhappily. She couldn't understand the complicated thoughts of humans. She only remembered that Zhou Fuying had injured Xu Lingguang. As a little girl who was very grateful but also very vengeful, she would not sympathize with this human cultivator!

However, the little leopard spirit who followed closely beside Jiongyou popped its head out and said weakly, "Yeah, he's not actually that bad."

Although the human later tied him up and used him to threaten the leader, he always remembered that when Zhou Fuying was treating him, he felt the warmth of her hand gently stroking his fur because she thought he was walking too slowly due to his injuries.

Although Zhou Fuying always spoke harsh words, in the end, Zhou Fuying not only saved his life and healed his injuries, but also helped him transform into human form.

For the little demon who was leaving the mountains for the first time, this was a kindness she would never forget.

However, the leopard spirit only had a tiny bit of courage. After he finished speaking, he was immediately glared at by Jiongyou, and he immediately shrank back and dared not make a sound.

Just as the group was talking, the howling snowstorm intensified.

Xu Lingguang glanced at the snow tornadoes slowly rising around him and said, "The snowstorm is getting heavier. Let's talk about it when we get back. Who's going to help me carry it? If no one can carry it, I'll have to carry it myself."

After he finished speaking, he deliberately pressed his chest weakly.

Neither Lan Jian nor Xiao Zai could bear to see him injured and forced to carry people. Even though they didn't like Zhou Fuying, they still rushed to help carry him.

In the end, Lan Jian lifted the unconscious Zhou Fuying with one hand, put the cubs into his sleeve with the other, and then took Xu Lingguang's hand and said without hesitation, "I'll take you back."

Seeing his thin lips pressed tightly together and his face full of displeasure, Xu Lingguang secretly smiled, then intertwined her fingers with his and gently scratched the back of his hand with her fingertips: "Okay, let's go."

With the Lanjiang River clearing the way, the return journey was naturally much faster.

However, in the blink of an eye, the two had returned to Wujian City. As soon as they stepped through the city gate, they saw many demons jumping down from the caves and walking towards the city gate, their expressions looking very serious.

Xu Lingguang stopped in surprise and casually pulled a kind-looking little demon aside to ask, "What's going on? Why are you all heading towards the city gate?"

The little demon recognized him as a newcomer and noticed that he was covered in snow and wind. She said, "A blizzard is coming, and the city gates are going to be closed. Did you just come back from outside the city? Luckily you made it back in time. If you had been any later, you would have been locked out."

Xu Lingguang asked, "Can this city gate really be closed?"

He glanced back and saw that the so-called city gate was actually just the entrance to a canyon. Because it had been widened, there were two protruding stone pillars on the left and right sides, resembling two giant guardian beasts. A huge rock lay horizontally on the stone pillars, like a giant sword hanging high, with the three large characters "Wujian City" inscribed on it in a flamboyant style, as if by some unknown person.

With such a simple entrance, without even a door, calling it a city gate is a stretch.

Seeing his curiosity, the little demon pointed to the city gate and said, "It can be closed. You'll see in a moment."

After saying that, the little demon hurriedly ran forward and joined the noisy demon race.

The demons lined up in two groups, while several powerful demons, whose cultivation levels were clearly not low, stood below the horizontal stone with inscriptions on it. They seemed to be the leading demons in the city.

Several demons took the lead, raising their palms and slamming them against the mountain wall. One of them roared with great force, "Fall down!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the little demons who had lined up all gathered their energy and slammed it against the mountain wall. The originally majestic and unshakable mountain began to tremble slowly.

The mountain's tremors caused the ground to shake as well, and fine snowflakes fell from overhead, as if a snowfall had occurred.

At the same time, a giant stone tortoise slowly climbed down from the mountaintop in a posture that defied the laws of physics, its enormous body completely blocking the entrance to the canyon.

Xu Lingguang looked at the giant tortoise, which was as majestic as a mountain. The tortoise's shell was covered with a thick layer of white ice. It was unknown how long the ice and snow had stayed on it. The surface of the shell was smooth and hardened. Many small icicles and cones hung from the edges of the shell, as if it was wearing a suit of armor made of ice and snow.

Outside the shell are the exposed, robust head and limbs.

Because the giant tortoise was so large, Xu Lingguang couldn't even see its entire body. He could only see that its thick legs were like huge stone pillars supporting a building, and each step left a deep indentation in the mountain wall and the ground.

Right now, its four limbs, as thick as stone pillars, are clumsily retracting into its shell.

Once completely inside, the city gates of Wujian City looked as if they were blocked by an iceberg that had fallen from the sky, completely shutting out the howling wind and snow.

The gathered demons seemed to have completed a major task, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Lingguang saw the little demon who had spoken to him earlier walking back briskly, so he pulled Lan Jian along to follow him and said with a smile, "When I came back, the wind and snow outside were heavy, but it was just ordinary. Why seal off the entrances to the city?"

Seeing the ignorance written all over his face, the little demon kindly reminded him, "It's still early. Did you see those gathered snow tornadoes when you came back?"

Xu Lingguang nodded: "I saw him."

So-called snow tornadoes are violent swirling snow and wind that form a column of air and vortex. They are much more powerful than ordinary tornadoes. However, in Xu Lingguang’s opinion, these snow tornadoes may cause considerable harm to ordinary people, but cultivators and demons should not be afraid of them.

Seeing the nonchalant look on his face, the little demon said, "Don't underestimate these snow tornadoes. They haven't grown up yet. After tonight, they will grow bigger and bigger. At that time, the entire snowfield will be filled with extremely violent snow tornadoes. If a little demon like us with insufficient cultivation gets caught in one, we won't even be able to leave behind a complete corpse."

Seeing that Xu Lingguang was stunned, he was afraid that he would not believe him, so he pointed to the giant tortoise at the city gate: "If you don't believe me, come and see again tomorrow. The snow tornado is so powerful that it can crack the city lord's tortoise shell."

"If it weren't for the city lord blocking the way every year, the snow tornado would have passed through this canyon long ago, and our Wujian City would have been finished long ago."

Xu Lingguang's focus, however, was on something else: "Is the giant tortoise at the city gate the city lord?"

Xiao Yao proudly raised her chin: "That's right. If it weren't for the city lord blocking the snow tornado, Wujian City would have been gone long ago, so of course he is the city lord."

Xu Lingguang then asked, "How long will it take for this snow tornado to dissipate? Will the city gate remain sealed like this forever?"

"It's hard to say. Based on past experience, it will be locked down for at least ten days to half a month. If we're unlucky, it could be a month or two."

At this point, the little demon lowered her voice and asked, "Do you have enough food stored at home? If not, you can come and exchange with me."

Xu Lingguang's brow twitched, and he lowered his voice to ask, "What do you have?"

The little demon said, "We have meat and vegetables, but we have to exchange them for pills."

Xu Lingguang asked curiously, "Only pills? Can't spirit stones work?"

The little demon curled her lips, looking at the newcomer with a hint of disdain: "What do we demons need spirit stones for? We can't spend them anyway. Pills are the real currency."

He looked Xu Lingguang up and down and muttered, "Do you have any pills or not? If not, I'm leaving."