When I woke up, the entire cultivation world was talking about my master.

"How did he know we were from the Taiyi Sect!" Xiao Huandu gasped.

The outer disciple driving the carriage turned around and weakly pointed outside the carriage: "Senior brother, our carriage... still has the sect's command flag hanging on it."

"..."

To facilitate their actions and to deter bandits and robbers along the way, disciples of the sect would carry command flags when they went out, which saved them a lot of trouble.

It can also attract some hatred.

The three looked at each other, politely deferring to one another for a few rounds. When disaster struck, they all fled for their own lives. Finally, Chu Xianlan took a deep breath, resignedly lifted the carriage curtain, and got out.

The moment he appeared, the previously noisy two groups of people fell silent.

All eyes turned to Chu Xianlan, scrutinizing her curiously from head to toe.

He Jingxuan, who had just been holding his chin up, suddenly changed his expression. He pretended to casually look away, his expression a mixture of surprise, embarrassment, and a faint...guilt.

Chu Xianlan, however, remained calm and smiled at him, "Brother He, it's been a long time. I didn't expect to run into you here."

These words clearly proved that the two had interacted before. The female cultivators of the Xuan Yang Sect immediately revealed knowing yet disdainful expressions, and whispered among themselves:

"So that's why I suddenly wanted to find someone to judge this..."

"So it's someone we know. Are you trying to take sides?"

"Tch, those guys from the Heavenly Sword Sect really do have ulterior motives."

Unexpectedly, He Jingxuan became even more flustered, coughing lightly, "Ahem... It's you, um, long time no see."

Then, he abandoned his previous aggressive demeanor and instead waved to his fellow disciples, saying urgently:

"Alright, alright, everyone disperse! What kind of mess is this, standing in traffic like this! Let's go!"

The disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect were completely bewildered. Why was this different from what they had agreed upon?

Didn't we want to fight to the death?

Seeing that his senior brother was in such a hurry to run away, they didn't dare to ask any more questions. They could only treat it as a matter to be dealt with and followed him on their swords.

In the blink of an eye, the group from the Heavenly Sword Sect, who had been on the verge of exchanging blows, vanished without a trace.

This sudden turn of events left the female cultivators of the Xuan Yang Sect dumbfounded.

They're... gone?

The junior sister of the Xuan Yang Sect couldn't contain her curiosity and jumped out first. "Fellow Daoist, may I ask what methods you used to get them away? That He Jingxuan usually acts so arrogantly, how hateful! Why does he act like he's seen a ghost whenever he sees you!"

Ji Fuyao glanced sideways slightly. "Baoyue, don't be rude."

The girl named Baoyue stuck out her tongue and hid behind her senior sister.

Actually, there weren't any particularly remarkable methods involved. Chu Xianlan and He Jingxuan were practically old acquaintances.

The two met at a Daoist conference two or three years ago. The two sword enthusiasts hit it off immediately. He Jingxuan greatly admired Chu Xianlan's weapon-forging skills, and since then, he would often visit Chu Xianlan to ask her to temper his swords.

He Jingxuan was once a respectable person.

Until I encountered the tool repairman.

Maintaining one's natal sword is already a considerable expense for a sword cultivator. In addition, sword maintenance can be addictive; one day it's refined, the next day it's imbued with a crystal, and before long, the accumulated costs snowball.

However, Master He, the head of the Heavenly Sword Sect, was extremely strict in managing his family and strictly controlled his son's spending, never allowing him to be extravagant or wasteful.

Thus, the impoverished genius gradually... could no longer repay the spirit stones, and dared not come to see Chu Xianlan again.

In fact, He Jingxuan did not renege on his debt, but he was always short of money, so Chu Xianlan received a sum of spirit stones anonymously sent from the Heavenly Sword Sect every month.

The amount was pitifully small, but it was punctual.

It's obvious that the senior disciple who cares about his image is paying off his debt in installments in his own way.

You can't expect a poor sword cultivator to suddenly become rich. However, based on her previous interactions, Chu Xianlan felt that He Jingxuan was a decent person and didn't intend to expose his past in public.

So he made up an excuse: "I don't know, Brother He probably has urgent business to attend to."

Ji Fuyao was always clever and guessed there might be more to the story, but her excellent manners prevented her from delving into the reasons. She simply smiled and said, "I am Ji Fuyao from the Xuan Yang Sect. Thank you for helping me out of that predicament. May I ask how I should address you?"

She was humble and did not put on airs.

"Taiyi Sect, Chu Xianlan." Chu Xianlan also cupped his hands in greeting, knowing that the other party was just being polite. "Fellow Daoist Ji, you flatter me. I didn't do anything. I just happened to be passing by... If you want to thank someone, thank our overly flashy carriage." He said with a wry smile.

It was him.

Ji Fuyao had an impression of Chu Xianlan and had occasionally heard of the name of the disciple under Immortal Lord Jixue. Rumor had it that he was a young weapon cultivator with outstanding talent. However, upon meeting him today, he was quite different from what she had imagined.

Bao Yue chimed in with a grin, "Hey, you're quite an interesting person, not like the guys from the Heavenly Sword Sect."

Chu Xianlan said, "I'm just a blacksmith, not as impressive as Brother He and the others."

"A blacksmith?" Baoyue's eyes lit up. "You're a weapon crafter? Do you know how to make jewelry? I saw a butterfly hairpin at the market last time that could protect the body. It was so beautiful, but the price was outrageously expensive..."

This is getting off-topic. Ji Fuyao coughed lightly to stop her junior sister's wandering thoughts.

"Fellow Daoist Chu, please don't be offended. My junior sister is young and a bit lively."

Chu Xianlan said gently, "I can make jewelry, but I deal with weapons most of the time. If my craftsmanship is not exquisite, I'm afraid it won't match Fellow Daoist Baoyue's elegant and charming temperament."

These words were sincere and not just empty flattery, which pleased Baoyue greatly. Even though she was rejected, she didn't feel unhappy and her opinion of him improved even more.

Before parting, Ji Fuyao's expression turned serious as she offered a reminder: "Fellow Daoist Chu, there's something you need to be careful about. Recently, there seem to be frequent sightings of half-demon throughout the cultivation world, specifically targeting lone cultivators or remote villages. If you pass through sparsely populated areas on your journey, please be extra cautious."

Chu Xianlan felt a chill run down her spine. Another half-demon?

It seems... that half-demons have appeared not only in the Taiyi Sect, but also in other places.

"Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist Ji. Until we meet again."

Afterwards, Chu Xianlan exchanged a few pleasantries with Ji Fuyao and the others, thus getting to know each other. They also tacitly avoided mentioning anything related to Ji Cheng'an before parting ways.

The delay on the road meant that by the time the carriage reached the village where the medicine was to be delivered, it was already completely dark.

The village was small, with only one inn that also served as a tavern lit up.

Zhu Ling lifted the carriage curtain and glanced at the deep night in the distance, then sighed listlessly, "We can't go back today. Let's set off again tomorrow morning."

The group got off the car and asked the innkeeper for a few rooms.

As soon as he entered, Xiao Huandu ripped off his outer robe and threw it on the bed, casually ruffling his hair: "Want to take a shower together? You're all sticky and covered in dust."

Chu Xianlan was speechless: "The fundamental difference between cultivators and mortals lies in their ability to skillfully use magic. Can you skillfully use cleansing magic?"

"That's so tasteless," Xiao Huandu said with utter contempt.

Chu Xianlan thought to herself, taking a shower is out of the question.

Just kidding. With such a huge Gu tattoo on his body, he could still lie and fool people at the Spirit Pool last time. If he were to be honest with them now, how could he possibly hide it?

"You go ahead, I'll rest for a bit."

"Tsk, lazybones." Xiao Huandu was too lazy to scold him and pushed the door open to leave.

The room fell silent.

Chu Xianlan walked to the bedside and sat down, raised her hand to press her abdomen, then turned her head back and lay down.

The existence of the Entangling Life Gu was like a lightning bomb that could be detonated at any time. Fortunately, it was usually not very noticeable, and he almost forgot that such a troublesome thing was lurking in his body.

Fortunately, at least it won't cause any inconvenience to normal life.

As long as you don't think about it, it's as if it doesn't exist.

With his eyes closed, he circulated his meridians through several small cycles, his breathing gradually deepened, and he fell asleep. In a place unnoticed by anyone, the Gu pattern hidden under his clothes flashed.

After an unknown amount of time, the door was pushed open.

Xiao Huandu walked in, wiping his wet hair, and saw an extremely bizarre scene.

He saw his good brother sit up straight in bed with his eyes closed.

"Chu Xianlan?" Xiao Huandu tried calling out.

No one answered.

Chu Xianlan had her back to him, her breathing was long and steady, and she suddenly reached into her storage pouch and summoned her flying magic weapon.

"Where are you going in the middle of the night? Are you trying to fly?" Xiao Huandu felt a chill run down his spine, his eyelids twitched, and he whispered, "...Are you sleepwalking?"

I've heard that you shouldn't wake a sleepwalker, or something terrible might happen.

Chu Xianlan still didn't answer his question. She closed her eyes, got out of bed barefoot, walked to the window, and opened it.

Then, with a wild step, he stepped onto the flying artifact, and without looking back, transformed into a ball of white light and flew out the window...?

They really went to heaven.

Xiao Huandu opened his mouth wide: Huh??

Hey bro, wait a minute!

"What the hell! What's wrong with you in the middle of the night?! Come back here—!"