Hostility

Succubus Su's abnormal behavior did not prompt Xu Yuan to act rashly and stir up trouble. After their first encounter, the morning sun rose in the east and set in the west twice more. Over those two days, Xu Yuan maintained his previous routine: reading, sipping tea, and basking in the sun. During this time, however, he did manage to "run into" that naturally alluring woman three times. Twice he went alone, and once he brought along the big block of ice. Strictly speaking, Succubus Su had never seen the big block of ice, but she ought to have had the name Ying'er etched into her very bones. After all, back in Jingjiang Prefecture, Ying'er had personally tortured her and conducted her espionage training. Yet without exception, Succubus Su remained as cold and aloof as before. *Creak—* Deep into the night, silence blanketed the valley. Accompanied by the groan of the old wooden door, Xu Yuan pushed it open and stepped straight into Ran Qingmo's guest room. Hearing the sound, Ran Qingmo, who had been sitting cross-legged cultivating with a Source Crystal in hand, immediately dispersed her technique. From the bed, she cast a vigilant look at Xu Yuan by the doorway. *It's not even midnight. What are you doing in my room?* "......" Xu Yuan practiced selective blindness, walking over to sit at the square table inside the room. He left the door open. Moments later, another graceful figure clad in a gauzy nightgown entered through the doorway. Bai Muxi holed up in her room all day without stepping outside. Only when Xu Yuan was bored did he occasionally drop by for a visit, so she had calculatingly changed into this nightgown that left half her supple chest exposed. Seeing this, Ran Qingmo thought nothing more of it, her quiet eyes flickering slightly. This was the first time the three of them had gathered together since arriving at this estate. Xu Yuan must have had something to discuss. With that in mind, Ran Qingmo quietly climbed down from the bed. As she slipped on her shoes, the room door shut with a creak, and the entire room suddenly plunged into pitch-black darkness where one could not even see one's own fingers. In the dark, Xu Yuan's voice rose faintly, getting straight to the point: "Have you noticed that there seems to be something strange hiding in this estate?" Having put on her boots, Ran Qingmo relied on memory to sit down beside the square table. She shook her head and asked softly, "Xu Yuan... did you discover something?" Bai Muxi's bright eyes pondered for a moment before she asked in a low voice, "Young Master, are you referring to the demon bugs outside? A settlement of several hundred people is such a large target, yet not a single demon bug has caught the scent and attacked. It is indeed rather strange." "That's one aspect of it." As Xu Yuan spoke, he lit the oil lamp on the square table with a burst of brownish-red flame. The special flame illuminated the three figures seated around the table, casting shifting, eerie shadows. Having done that, Xu Yuan lightly tapped the table and said in a measured voice, "The female guest staying in the Sufeng Residence is an old acquaintance of mine..." At this point, noticing Ran Qingmo's gaze shift slightly, Xu Yuan promptly added, "Or rather, she is an undercover agent I planted in the past, subordinate to the Black Scale Guards. Over the past three days, I probed her multiple times, but she didn't react in the slightest to any of my hints." Her airhead radar disengaged, Ran Qingmo sat quietly without speaking. Bai Muxi thought for a moment, then hesitated before asking, "If she's an undercover operative, could it be that she's afraid of blowing her cover and thus cannot acknowledge you?" Xu Yuan glanced at Xiao Bai and countered, "Even if she couldn't acknowledge me openly, responding to a few subtle hints shouldn't be difficult, right?" The flame flickered. Xu Yuan waved his hand, dispersing the strange black mist before him, and murmured, "So I suspect there's an issue with her cognition or her memories." The moment the words left his mouth, the corners of Xu Yuan's lips could not help curling upward slightly. Though doing so somewhat spoiled the serious mood, he truly could not hold it back. As expected of Su Jinxuan. To possess the Bewitching Soul Fiend Physique and end up brainwashed by someone else—what an absolute embarrassment. At this moment, Ran Qingmo spoke up softly: "Xu Yuan, do you suspect Sister Wan is the problem?" Xu Yuan nodded with a smile, but before he could speak, Bai Muxi suddenly chimed in to interrupt: "Young Master, wouldn't it be better to test things further before drawing a conclusion?" Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow. While extending his spiritual vision, he said softly, "How so?" Bai Muxi leaned forward slightly, resting her arm against her half-exposed chest as she gently caressed her smooth, fair chin. She suggested in a low voice, "If that Madame Wan is exceptionally powerful and harbors malice, it would be difficult for us to resist. It would be best to think twice before acting, and we are in no hurry at this moment." Xu Yuan stared at Xiao Bai's face, flickering between light and shadow under the lamp fire, for several breaths before letting out a soft chuckle and uttering three words: "That makes sense." "Then should we—" "Muxi." Xu Yuan softly cut off her words and suddenly asked out of the blue, "We've spent so much time together. Since I said what I said, you should know very well how certain I am in my judgment, shouldn't you?" Saying this, Xu Yuan paused, his eyes puzzled as he asked, "Besides, as I recall, weren't you always the most paranoid? You'd kill at the slightest hint of suspicion. Why have you suddenly turned so cautious just when I've made up my mind?" "......" At those words, Bai Muxi froze and opened her mouth to speak. Yet in that instant of hesitation, the airhead woman beside her had already rested an ink sword against her fair neck. "......" Bai Muxi silently shut her mouth. The edge was less than a millimeter from her throat. At the slightest movement, head and body would be parted. Seeing this, Xu Yuan showed no surprise whatsoever, for the big block of ice had always been like this. Though usually spaced-out and very polite, whenever enemies were involved, she was extraordinarily decisive and lethal. Rising gently to his feet, Xu Yuan placed a hand on Bai Muxi's motionless forehead and said softly, "Muxi, don't resist." Silence settled within the mist. As his spiritual vision poured directly into Bai Muxi's body, her thinly clad frame began to tremble uncontrollably. A moment later, Xu Yuan's brow involuntarily twitched. He had discovered a barely perceptible impurity within Bai Muxi's brain structure. Sensing its composition, Xu Yuan's expression grew slightly solemn. "Influencing consciousness through the body... It isn't a qi state, nor is it an intent-soul..." As he spoke, he glanced at the room shrouded in black mist, the corners of his lips curving slightly. "It's actually a physical substance... No, a bizarre matter that sits between a qi state and a physical object?" Sensing the strange substance's manner of existence, a bizarre trace of familiarity welled up in Xu Yuan's heart. Yet upon deeper reflection, that familiarity slipped away like sand through his fingers. He had no choice but to let it go for now. After thoroughly inspecting Xiao Bai's body inside and out, Xu Yuan let out a soft breath. "There is no linked qi dynamic. If I purge this thing, whoever is on the other end shouldn't be able to sense it." With that, Xu Yuan guided his black Source Qi, carefully channeling it into Bai Muxi's body to dissolve and deconstruct that tiny clump of impurity. Returning to his seat, Xu Yuan waved tiredly to Ran Qingmo, signaling that she could lower her sword, and instructed in a low voice, "None of you are to cultivate over the next few days. It's best if you hold your breath and avoid inhaling anything. Allow nothing in your body to interact with the outside world. There is a bizarre substance suspended throughout this entire estate." "......" The blade was pulled away. Meeting Ran Qingmo's apologetic gaze, Bai Muxi pressed her lips together. Only after a long silence did she speak softly: "Muxi thanks the Young Master... But are we not leaving yet?" "Don't worry. For Madame Wan to act with such cautious care, she must be wary of us as well." Xu Yuan glanced at her and shook his head slightly, his gaze chilling as he enunciated each word: "As for leaving? "Why should I leave? "Su Jinxuan and Tianyan entered the Thousand Thorns Gorge together. Now Su Jinxuan is under the control of that damn pregnant woman, and Tianyan's whereabouts are completely unknown. "For such a great kindness, I can hardly wait to thoroughly interrogate this damn pregnant woman whose hostility remains so obscure." Saying this, Xu Yuan took a crystalline bead from his Sumeru ring. Using his spiritual vision and soul mist to sense those bizarre floating particles that controlled people's minds, the figure of Princess Mu Zhiyun involuntarily surfaced in his mind. His tone took on a sharp chill: "Besides, these things have reminded me of some very interesting memories." With those words, *Crack.* The crystal abruptly shattered, and an invisible pulse surged outward from the estate, hurtling at top speed toward the heart of Great Yan!