Chapter 102: Returning to the Destination

This thick, time-worn volume had yellowed with age. Its title was blunt and simple: The Record of Myriad Matters. White Qirui found it vaguely familiar, and only then did he dimly recall that an elder had once mentioned it in his childhood.

Back then, the elder had looked proudly at the book in his hands, the very same Record of Myriad Matters now in White Qirui's possession, and had laughed at him with a knowing smile. “This compendium was handed down from our ancestors many years ago. It records countless events from ancient times to the present, and also contains plenty of notes on the inner methods of various sects and the inheritances of secret realms. Throughout the entire immortal sect, only our Heavenly Fox clan possesses it!”

White Qirui's eyes, dulled after searching for so long, suddenly lit up. He opened it at once.

But after starting from the first page and turning all the way to page three thousand two hundred and eighty, he still could not find what White Shengyun wanted.

With a helpless look, he propped his cheek on one hand and yawned. As he turned the next page, a few lines came into view.

After reading them, White Qirui's brow furrowed. He did not know whether he should tell White Shengyun what was written there.

After all, one of the things recorded in the book would put White Shengyun's life in immediate danger if he went to retrieve it, and could even threaten the very inheritance of the Heavenly Fox clan.

He thought it over and over. In the end, he simply closed the Record of Myriad Matters, put it back where it belonged, and turned to leave.

But after only a few steps, he suddenly remembered the serious words White Shengyun had said to him before he departed:

“Third Brother, I want to save her.”

“She is only an ordinary cultivator. She cannot bear the taboo binding of another race, nor can she endure the force unleashed after the Heavenly Fox's Primordial Source has grown strong.”

...

“Forget it!”

He stopped short, angrily rubbing his head, and could not help but think of White Shengyun in childhood.

Back then, White Shengyun had been nothing more than a small child, yet he had been forced to cultivate the path of severed emotions.

From that day on, it seemed all his joys and sorrows had been forcibly stripped away. He no longer liked to smile. Even when he watched his mother weep bitterly, he would no longer offer quiet comfort. As the years passed, he became increasingly taciturn, and when he acted, he did so with ruthless decisiveness. In his eyes there was only detachment, until he met Xie Yingying.

During their last conversation, White Qirui had been rather startled, because for the first time in so many years, he had heard White Shengyun say, “I want to save someone.”

At that thought, White Qirui drew a deep breath.

Back then, he had also strongly opposed White Shengyun's cultivation of the path of severed emotions. But the emperor, along with all the elders, had remained adamant, and in the end they had driven that smiling young boy into the man he was now.

He lowered his eyes and sighed. At last, he walked back to the bookcase, took down the Record of Myriad Matters that he had just returned, and opened it again. Then he took several sheets of paper and a brush from his sleeve and began copying the contents onto the pages.

Copying took far less time than searching. In less than a cup of tea's time, those few pages had all been transcribed onto the paper.

When he finished, he folded the pages and stuffed them back into his sleeve. Even after lowering his hand, he still felt uneasy. He raised a finger and pressed the papers deeper into the inner sleeve, pushing them farther in before finally letting his hand fall.

He was not being overly cautious. If these pages were to fall out somewhere along the way and be discovered, then not only would he be finished, White Shengyun would be as well.

Yet even with the papers hidden deep within his sleeve, he still felt uneasy.

He clasped one hand behind his back and curved the other before him, then strode out of the Forbidden Pavilion, only hoping to reach the Evil Sect as quickly as possible.

He did not notice that behind him, Elder Eight Lakes stroked his white beard and slowly stepped out of the shadows.

From the moment White Qirui entered, the elder had remained in the Forbidden Pavilion, watching every one of his movements from the darkness, including his pauses and hesitation. In his heart, he had already guessed something.

He walked to the central desk in the pavilion, sat down cross-legged, and narrowed his eyes slightly. After a long while, he let out a deep sigh, yet he did not stop White Qirui from leaving with the copied volume.

At that moment, within the Evil Sect.

Night. The hour of the pig.

Unusually blood-red crows cawed incessantly as though mourning the dead. Their eyes rolled restlessly in their sockets. The disciples on the early watch carried all sorts of strange magical tools as they patrolled the grounds, covering their mouths now and then to stifle yawns.

Huo Tianqing clasped his hands behind his back and strode out of the great hall, heading north through the Evil Sect.

After passing who knew how many palaces, he reached a secluded place where, within several hundred paces, there stood only a single palace.

This was where Ning Qingqing, who had been dragged here by the Evil Sect disciples a few days earlier, was being kept.

At the palace gates, several disciples stationed there spotted him from afar and hurriedly bowed.

When he drew near, they said in unison, “Elder.”

Huo Tianqing gave a slight nod in acknowledgment, and only then did they straighten.

He walked straight into the palace and headed for the inner chamber.

The interior of the great hall was far smaller than the Joy Palace, and the sleeping chamber within was smaller still. There was not even a trace of greenery nearby, only withered flowers and grass.

Several disciples stood guard outside the sleeping chamber as well. When they saw Huo Tianqing arrive, they bowed and then opened the door for him.

Huo Tianqing entered at once and saw Ning Qingqing sleeping soundly on the bed.

One of the disciples who had opened the door stepped inside as well. Seeing that she was asleep, he went forward, yanked her directly off the bed, and pressed her down until she was forced to kneel on the floor.

At that moment, Ning Qingqing opened her eyes. Not yet fully awake, she stared blankly at the person before her.

After focusing, her expression changed abruptly, and her lips trembled.

“Huo... Huo Tianqing?!”

The disciple holding her on the right heard her address Huo Tianqing by name and immediately snapped, “How dare you speak our elder's name aloud? You lowly worm, do you think you are worthy?”

Hearing this, Ning Qingqing clenched her teeth, then quickly changed her tone and cried timidly, “Huo... honored sir.”

Huo Tianqing swept his robe and sat in the wooden chair nearest to her. His gaze was sharp as he asked bluntly, “What was White Shengyun like when he was at Mount Chance-Encounter with Yingying?”

When Ning Qingqing heard this question, she immediately remembered the conversation she had overheard among the Evil Sect disciples some days earlier:

“The Heavenly Fox young sovereign came here for the sake of marrying Senior Sister Xie?”

“That’s right, exactly. I happened to be there and heard the Heavenly Fox young sovereign say 'propose marriage' and 'seek her hand' over and over. Tsk, tsk...”

At that thought, Ning Qingqing tightened both hands, and a flash of resentment surfaced on her face.

White Shengyun had come from afar, and not only did he refuse to kill Xie Yingying, he even wanted to marry her...

Then what exactly had all these days of me trailing after White Shengyun amounted to?

Seeing that she did not answer, the disciple frowned and barked again, “The elder is asking you a question!”

The shout jolted Ning Qingqing back to her senses. She immediately put on a pitiful expression and began to cry toward Huo Tianqing. “Are you here to let me out? I'll tell you everything... The young sect master did not often speak with Yingying at Mount Chance-Encounter...”