Chapter Ninety-Three: The Farce Concludes

At this moment, Bai Shengyun was finally able to stop his hand, barely managing to preserve both of their lives.

“How are they?” He took out another pill from his storage pouch and tried to feed it to Bo Meng, then asked softly to the side.

This time, Bo Meng swallowed the pill easily.

Seeing this, Bai Shengyun withdrew his spiritual energy and replied in a calm voice, “They’re all right. At least I’ve pulled them back from the gates of the underworld.”

Bai Qirui couldn’t help but nod at him, clicking his tongue in admiration. “If it had been me alone, I fear the two of them would already be dead. Harmonizing the energies of yin and yang and different spiritual powers is not something I could have resolved so quickly.”

Hearing the praise, Bai Shengyun lifted his chin slightly, a trace of confidence in his demeanor.

A soft groan escaped.

The two of them turned toward the sound to see Xie Yingying’s face contorted in pain.

Bai Shengyun took her wrist, placing two fingers atop it, and immediately noticed her heart was racing abnormally fast.

He sent his divine sense probing, and the brows he had just relaxed furrowed again.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Qirui asked anxiously.

“The primordial force of the Celestial Fox,” he answered gravely.

With that, he scooped Xie Yingying into his arms and strode swiftly into the bedchamber. The moment he fully entered, the wooden door slammed shut behind him with a bang.

Bai Qirui, recognizing the seriousness of the situation, did not follow but waited outside the door.

Not long after, he sensed the yin energy around the Hall of Pleasure begin to stir, boiling as if brought to a rolling simmer.

Soon, these currents of yin energy seemed to gain sentience, all surging toward the bedchamber.

Bai Qirui grew concerned—such an influx of yin energy would surely make Bai Shengyun extremely uncomfortable.

But recalling Bai Shengyun’s capabilities, he steadied his nerves, raised a hand, and set up a formation to keep wandering spirits from being drawn by the disturbance to trouble Bai Shengyun further.

Yet the moment Jing Ling saw him casting a formation, she flared up and demanded, “What are you up to now? Hasn’t your righteous sect caused enough chaos here already?”

Bai Qirui, fanning himself with his Clear Heart Fan, replied helplessly, “I’m helping Xie Yingying.”

Jing Ling narrowed her eyes and sneered coldly, “Who would believe that?!”

Seeing his explanation fell on deaf ears, Bai Qirui simply spread his hands in resignation and said perfunctorily, “Fine, since you don’t believe me, there’s nothing more I can say.”

Jing Ling, recognizing his indifference, grew all the more irate. She sent a secret message to Lie Yang, Gu Ruo Han, and Huo Tianqing, fuming, “They want us to drive all these people out of the demonic sect. Now only one has left, but the Violet Gold Bell is still here. Let’s think of a way to get rid of the rest too!”

Lie Yang was just about to reply when, at the center of the trio, a yellow communication talisman slowly appeared.

One by one, cinnabar inscriptions floated up from the yellow paper, and a hoarse, ancient voice began to echo out: “Enough. Behave yourselves!”

At the sound of this, the three and the other disciples of the demonic sect immediately bowed and knelt, greeting the voice, “Elder Xue.”

After their greeting, Xue Feng’s stiff voice continued from the talisman, “Given our similar status, Young Lord Bai, I say this: if you and the Celestial Fox heir disturb the peace of our sect again, I will personally see to your removal.”

Bai Qirui understood from these words that Xue Feng was no longer forbidding their presence in the sect. He stopped waving his Clear Heart Fan, chuckled softly, and answered, “Of course not. It’s just that the matter of the marriage proposal remains unresolved, so we must stay a while longer and trouble you a bit more. My apologies.”

“Very well,” Xue Feng replied curtly. “We’ll discuss everything once Xie Yingying wakes.”

Bai Qirui inclined his head lightly in agreement.

Seeing matters settled, Xue Feng instructed Jing Ling, “Prepare quarters for Young Lord Bai for the night.”

Jing Ling was visibly reluctant. “But—”

Her words cut off abruptly, and the others looked at her curiously, noticing the change in her expression. They guessed Xue Feng must have sent her a private message.

Indeed, Xue Feng said quietly to her, “Enough, Jing Ling. I know you resent their intrusion upon the sect’s peace. But we have already made our decision—go and make the arrangements.”

Hearing this, Jing Ling could only comply. She waved irritably to a nearby disciple, her head aching. “There’s an unused palace near the Hall of Pleasure—have someone tidy it up.”

The disciple was surprised by her sudden change of attitude, but after a moment’s thought, considering Elder Xue Feng’s temperament, she understood.

Xue Feng had lived through the last great war between the two sects, witnessing the carnage firsthand. In the years since, he had worked to stabilize relations, determined to prevent another conflict and the devastation it would bring.

Soon, the disciple returned to report, “Master, it’s ready.”

Jing Ling nodded, then looked up at Bai Qirui, her expression unfriendly. “Bai Qirui, your quarters are prepared.”

“Thank you,” he replied.

Jing Ling’s expression grew complicated at his response.

With magnanimity, as if there had never been any previous strife, Bai Qirui added, “Would you be so kind as to show the way?”

Jing Ling suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, frowning as she urged, “Then hurry up and come out!”

Bai Qirui responded softly, then picked up Bo Meng. Under the watchful eyes of those around, he descended the steps.

As he approached the Violet Python and the Iron Thorns, they parted of their own accord, clearing a path.

Jing Ling stepped forward when he emerged from the Iron Thorns’ range and snatched Bo Meng away from him.

Bai Qirui didn’t react—after all, had Jing Ling not taken Bo Meng, he would have handed her over anyway. After all, propriety between men and women had to be maintained.

Afterward, Bai Qirui also departed, following the disciple to his new quarters.

Thus, this farce finally drew to a close.

The disciples of the demonic sect, finding the excitement over, drifted back to their own rooms in small groups.

But the four remained, sensing the growing concentration of sinister energy in the bedchamber—energy that drew countless ghosts, who were nevertheless kept at bay by the Iron Thorns of the Violet Gold Bell.

As the hour of the tiger began, the yin energy in the Hall of Pleasure still had not dissipated, but was gathering ever more densely, pouring into the chamber where Xie Yingying and Bai Shengyun lay.

Again and again, the specters tried to enter, but could do nothing but bare their teeth in frustration at the two violet pythons from outside the Iron Thorns.

Inside, Bai Shengyun was drenched in sweat, yet he did not pause. He continued to wrestle and merge his own energy with the cold yin force inside Xie Yingying, devising every method he could to suppress her surging primordial power.

Only after a long struggle did he finally succeed in pressing down the force that had erupted within her, leaving himself gasping for breath in exhaustion.

Bai Shengyun stood, his form swaying unsteadily.

His spiritual strength had been utterly depleted after days without rest. Even the strongest of men would be at their limit, let alone his own exhausted body and depleted core.

With no other choice, he climbed onto the bed. The moment he lay down, he fell into a deep sleep.