Nalan Qingjue’s icy voice echoed inside the cave.
The iron chains on Chu Mo’s body made a light sound.
She weakly raised her head.
Her once high-spirited black pupils were filled with unconcealable haggardness.
Her cold and arrogant, beautiful face was covered in large patches of dirty mud.
Her red lips were pale, covered with conspicuous blood marks.
Her originally silk-smooth black hair was now greasy and tangled on her head.
This human race prodigy who had amazed the world had never been so wretched.
“Give up Bai Qingran.”
Five words, bone-chillingly cold, came from Nalan Qingjue’s mouth.
Chu Mo could not hear even half a bit of emotion.
She deeply understood that her master’s nature had always been to say one thing and mean it.
These words were not a discussion, but an order.
But…
Chu Mo tightly bit her lips.
The blood marks on them immediately tore open.
A salty, fishy taste rushed straight into her mouth.
She subconsciously clenched her hands tightly.
Her empty wrists no longer had that red string symbolizing love.
In the days after Lin Rou left, she had thought for a long time and suddenly realized that every frown and smile of the little fox had long been branded into the deepest part of her soul.
Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, joy, anger, sorrow, happiness—no matter which taste it was, they were all beautiful things that Chu Mo was absolutely unwilling to let go of.
She thought she must have fallen in love with Bai Qingran.
In this relationship where every step had been wrong, she had hopelessly fallen in love with the person she should least love.
“Master… Master…”
Her tone was weak.
Her black pupils instantly filled with tears.
Chu Mo was like a child who had made a big mistake.
She said in a trembling voice, “I… I cannot be without Bai Qingran. I… have fallen in love with him…”
The moment the word “love” left her mouth, Nalan Qingjue’s mind seemed to explode with a buzzing sound.
Angry blood rushed straight to the top of her head.
The last time Chu Mo said “love,” it was for Pei Yunqing that she had gone mad! She had searched for that person at all costs! And now…
A human-fox hybrid substitute plaything! You can even say the word “love” out loud?!
Forcibly suppressing the surging anger in her heart, Nalan Qingjue’s face was as gloomy as water.
“Chu Mo, I thought your feelings for Bai Qingran were at most the liking of being obsessed with a plaything. You are still young and have been dazzled by a good-looking plaything. Although this makes me angry, I can still bring you back to the right path.”
“But if… you say you love Bai Qingran…”
There was no wind inside the cave, but the violent anger spiritual power overflowing from Nalan Qingjue stirred up gusts of yin wind.
Although her heart inexplicably felt some reluctance at the thought of killing Bai Qingran, for the sake of the sect and for Chu Mo, she had to do this.
“Even if you hate me to the bone afterward, I will still kill Bai Qingran and completely cut off your thoughts.”
“No! Don’t! Master! Please don’t kill him!”
Chu Mo’s words were shrill and miserable.
There was no longer any trace of pride on her body.
Her eye sockets were red and swollen.
Tears fell in large drops.
The matter of the little fox dying was simply more painful than being cut into a thousand pieces.
It was a torture of inserting a sharp knife straight into the heart and then stirring it back and forth.
“As long as you don’t kill Bai Qingran… I will do anything… Master… I beg you…”
This number-one person of the same generation curled up humbly on the ground.
Her hands dug deep finger marks into the mud.
Her forehead pressed tightly against the ground.
Even if the sharp sand and stones cut her forehead open, Chu Mo could not feel even half a bit of pain.
A heavy sigh echoed inside the cave.
Nalan Qingjue helplessly clenched her fist.
This supreme combat power of the human race actually felt somewhat powerless when facing matters of love.
“The last person you said you loved was Pei Yunqing. Now it has become Bai Qingran again. Chu Mo, you are truly ridiculous. The things you did to Bai Qingran—I already know about them. Do you think he will still love you?”
“He… he said he loved me…”
Although her words were refuting, Chu Mo’s eyes were violently shaking.
Heh.
That damned Bai Qingran.
In front of myself he put on an appearance of preferring death over submission, full of great hatred and deep enmity.
Yet in front of Chu Mo he was saying words of love. These fox demons really know how to play with people’s hearts.
The purple pupils dangerously narrowed.
Nalan Qingjue said coldly, “Bai Qingran has been moved by me to a different place of imprisonment. Chu Mo, I can choose not to kill him. However, you—do not entertain any more thoughts of loving Bai Qingran. He is merely a good-looking plaything. If you want to play with him, you may. But saying ‘love’ is absolutely not allowed.”
***
Just as the master and disciple pair had fallen into an unpleasant situation, at the residence of Mistveil Pavilion, things were also not peaceful among the group.
Ever since the last failed attempt to break through the blockade, the inside of Mistveil Pavilion had been in a state of panic.
First, that elder whose foot had been chopped off lost emotional control and pointed at Pei Ruanyan while cursing loudly.
This internal strife spread like wildfire. Before Red Sun Phoenix Heaven Sect even made a move, they had already beaten themselves bloody.
Pei Ruanyan’s face was haggard and her hair was disheveled.
This former beauty was now full of embarrassment and wretchedness.
The constant surveillance from Red Sun Phoenix Heaven Sect outside the courtyard told her at all times that death was approaching—she absolutely must not think of running.
Could it be that she was truly going to die here?
Pei Ruanyan was unwilling in her heart.
She had schemed her entire life to obtain everything she had now.
How could she… die so easily like this.
But…
She pondered for a long time.
If there was still anyone who could help Mistveil Pavilion get through this crisis, it was only Chu Mo.
Ruthlessness instantly filled Pei Ruanyan’s eyes.
She knew that Pei Yunqing could not contact Chu Mo.
She also knew that Pei Yunqing’s final ugly state had probably already ruined Chu Mo’s good impression of him.
She even thought that the “rival in love” Pei Yunqing had mentioned might have already taken advantage of the opening.
But she was Pei Ruanyan.
She was someone who dared to scheme against Chu Mo and Yan Qingge—a desperate gambler who did not care about her life.
She pushed open the door and walked into Pei Yunqing’s room.
A rotten smell rushed toward her face.
Pei Ruanyan disgustedly covered her nose with her hand.
The noble young master she had carefully nurtured was now curled up in the shadows like a mad beggar.
Pei Yunqing’s clothes were tattered and his face was wooden.
The nauseating filth inside the room was as if Pei Yunqing’s self-respect had completely collapsed.
“Mother… Mother!”
A terrified, shrinking sound.
Pei Yunqing stood up abruptly from the ground as if shocked by electricity.
He now truly looked like a mad ghost, making people feel disgusted at the sight.
“Qing’er, you are far too slovenly.”
Pei Ruanyan’s tone was flat, as if it was just an ordinary mother nagging her son.
But to Pei Yunqing it sounded like poison piercing the intestines.
A chill instantly spread throughout his entire body.
He instinctively knelt on the ground, trying to wipe away the dirt bit by bit with his clothes.
But suddenly, he heard Pei Ruanyan call his name.
Pei Yunqing raised his head tremblingly.
What met his eyes was a pair of eyes without any emotion.
“Qing’er, have you still not contacted Chu Mo?”
“Y-Yes… I’m sorry, Mother, I…”
“Enough.”
Pei Ruanyan impatiently waved her hand.
She took out a short knife from her Storage Ring and threw it on the ground with a Clang!
The cold, gleaming light flashed past in the dim room, reflecting Pei Yunqing’s pale face.
“Qing’er, commit suicide. Your ugly state must have already disgusted Chu Mo immensely. But if you are about to die, I think she will show up for the sake of past affection. At that time, you go beg her to speak to Red Sun Phoenix Heaven Sect and ask them to spare us a way out. You are her white moonlight, her savior. Even if from now on you become her dog, it would be worth it.”
In an instant, Pei Yunqing only felt his throat go dry and stuck.
He seemed to have forgotten how to breathe and could only stare blankly at the familiar yet incomparably strange mother before his eyes.
In his vague childhood memories, Pei Ruanyan still had a somewhat gentle appearance.
But as she grasped more power in Mistveil Pavilion, her control over him and over his father Xiao Qinghuan had become increasingly strong.
The tragic thing was that Xiao Qinghuan was a person with a weak personality.
An incoming wife like Pei Ruanyan had actually been allowed to usurp the nest like a cuckoo.
Pei Ruanyan seemed to never know the word “emotion.”
She only had endless scheming and boundless ambition.
Many years ago, when he first met Chu Mo, after this well-known true disciple of Xuan Phoenix Sacred Sect mistakenly recognized him, Pei Ruanyan had felt this was an opportunity.
She had gone to great lengths to create an entire script to design Chu Mo.
In the end, Pei Yunqing had become the white moonlight that everyone knew Chu Mo loved most in her heart.
But what no one knew was that he was merely a puppet on strings.
The one controlling everything was Pei Ruanyan behind him.
But now…
Trembling as he gripped the short knife, Pei Yunqing desperately raised his head to look at Pei Ruanyan.
He asked in a hoarse, shaking voice, “Mother, do you love me?”
What answered him was a long, chilling silence.
“Qing’er, your identity as the white moonlight was designed by me. That time during the trial when you were attacked by the Demon Race was also arranged by me. The troublesome but non-fatal poison Yan Qingge was afflicted with was also planned by me. Qing’er, I paved a path to the heavens for you.”
“As long as you walk down it, you will be Chu Mo’s white moonlight. You will be Chu Mo’s savior. You can even use your medical skills to make the people of Xuan Phoenix Sacred Sect and even Red Sun Phoenix Heaven Sect shut their mouths…”
At this point, Pei Ruanyan could not help but shake her head.
Her tone only contained unwillingness toward the losing situation.
There was not a trace of a mother’s love.
“What a pity, Qing’er. The winner is king and the loser is a bandit. We have no more cards left. Therefore, I can only use your life to gamble one more time. Do not hate me, Qing’er.”
After speaking, spiritual power began to condense in Pei Ruanyan’s hand.
The meaning could not be clearer: if you do not do it yourself, I will do it personally.
Pei Yunqing held the short knife.
The tip of the blade trembled as it pressed against his abdomen.
He looked at Pei Ruanyan one last time.
His eyes were filled with endless pleading.
But what responded to him was a sheet of ice.
He closed his eyes in despair.
From his mouth came several suppressed, desolate low roars that were unclear whether they were crying or laughing.
Finally, a shrill, miserable scream tore through the silence above the small courtyard.