"Junior brother, if anything ever happens in the future, remember this in your heart. Only by staying alive will there be a chance to change things."
The night was already deep. Slightly drunk, Mu Han gently patted the back of Li Luoning's hand and spoke with deep meaning.
Li Luoning looked at Mu Han with some confusion. Thinking that he was simply drunk, he agreed.
"Luoning will remember it well. It is late now. Senior brother, please go upstairs and rest."
After speaking, he helped Mu Han walk up to the second floor of the inn.
After gently placing Mu Han on the bed and covering him with a blanket, Li Luoning quietly stepped out of the room and softly closed the door behind him.
"Master, are you sure you want going alone?"
Yun Qingyi, who had been waiting at the entrance of the inn, asked with concern.
"Yes. Stay here and wait. If I have not returned by dawn, go back to the Liaoyin Immortal Realm and find the War God Qingyuan. Tell him we have found the real culprit who harmed the Medicine King and ask him to bring soldiers here immediately."
Li Luoning had already changed into night traveling clothes. After covering his face with a veil, he set out.
Meanwhile, inside Quanxia Pavilion, Hua Ruoying and Qingping had already been trapped there for several days.
"Ruoying sister, why do you think Nan Zhe refuses to let us leave?"
Qingping asked while playing with a locust tree leaf in his hand.
"How would I know?"
As they were speaking, the barrier of Quanxia Pavilion opened. Nan Zhe slowly walked in from outside, carrying a bundle in his hand.
"Lord Nan Zhe has not appeared for many days. Have you finally decided to let me pack my things and leave?"
Hua Ruoying said in a sarcastic tone.
Nan Zhe handed the bundle over.
"For me?"
Hua Ruoying asked in surprise.
Qingping beside her also leaned forward curiously, trying to see what was inside.
Hua Ruoying casually opened the bundle. Inside was a brand new set of clothes.
"Put it on."
Looking at the deep blue clothing in front of her, Hua Ruoying actually liked it very much. But when she remembered it was from Nan Zhe, her face immediately darkened. She closed the bundle again and said against her true feelings,
"I do not like this color."
Nan Zhe naturally saw through her thoughts. With a soft laugh, he turned his palm and gathered a force in his hand, aiming it at Qingping beside her, then repeated calmly,
"Put it on."
Meanwhile at Wuming Demon Mountain, Li Luoning had already successfully infiltrated the area.
After searching for a long time, he still could not find any trace of Mi Xingzhe.
"Could there be another hidden chamber?"
Thinking this, Li Luoning decided to investigate the Demon Lord's sleeping hall.
The hall looked normal. Li Luoning tapped along the walls with his hand. Suddenly he heard a hollow sound behind one section.
Inside the secret passage, the corridor was dark and extended dozens of meters underground. At the end of the passage stood an iron door sealed with a spell.
Above the iron door was a small hole. Through it, one could vaguely see the furnishings inside and a faint human figure.
"Who is there?"
Inside the room, Shentu Zhuojia quickly heard the sound.
Li Luoning calmed his mind and thought,
"Whoever this person is, being imprisoned here must mean there is some hidden secret."
"I am... Piaocheng, who accidentally entered this place. May I ask your name?"
Li Luoning asked quietly.
"Why are you imprisoned here? Do you need my help to escape?"
Li Luoning continued.
Shentu Zhuojia did not respond.
"To be honest, I came to the Demon Lord's hall tonight because he previously captured my young disciple. If you know where he is, I will free you and restore your freedom."
Li Luoning spoke sincerely.
"Rescue me? That will not be necessary. I appreciate your kindness. If you did not find your disciple in the dungeon, you may try looking at the northeast corner of Wuming Demon Mountain. There is a dungeon there filled with heavy yin energy. It is not often used, but sometimes prisoners are still kept there."
Shentu Zhuojia replied.
"Thank you for the guidance. May I ask your name?"
"Shentu."
Shentu Zhuojia only spoke those two words and then ignored Li Luoning.
"Shentu? Could it be that the old Demon Lord who went mad did not die but was imprisoned here by the current Demon Lord?"
Li Luoning had no time to think further. After bowing in thanks toward the iron door, he quickly left.
Meanwhile, outside the inn in Pingyan Land, Yun Qingyi was waiting anxiously at the entrance.
Mi Xingzhe, who had been wandering around Pingyan Land the entire day, turned into the street nearby and complained to himself,
"I searched the entire town and countryside of Pingyan Land and still could not find Master or Senior Brother. Did I really see wrong earlier? It is already dark. I should find an inn first. Tomorrow morning I will return to Mirror Cloud Residence by myself."
Mi Xingzhe lowered his head and walked toward the entrance of Pingyan Inn while talking to himself.
Yun Qingyi noticed the figure approaching and cautiously moved to the side to hide.
Under the moonlight he could barely recognize that the person was wearing the uniform of Wuming Demon Mountain shadow guards. But when Mi Xingzhe pushed open the inn door, the candlelight inside illuminated his face clearly.
"Junior brother!"
Yun Qingyi hurried after him and called out from behind. His voice trembled slightly with disbelief.
Mi Xingzhe, who had been feeling disappointed, suddenly heard the familiar voice behind him. His eyes lit up immediately as he turned around.
"Brother Qingyi!"
Looking at Yun Qingyi before him, Mi Xingzhe was so emotional that tears almost came out.
Hearing Mi Xingzhe call him that familiar name, Yun Qingyi finally relaxed. If this were someone pretending, they would never know how his junior brother usually addressed him.
The person before him was truly his junior brother.
The two rushed toward each other.
"Brother Qingyi, I searched for you for so long."
Mi Xingzhe spoke with both excitement and grievance. He had nearly searched the entire Pingyan Land that day and thought he must have been mistaken earlier.
"I have been looking for you with Master as well. Are you alright? Are you injured? How did you escape? Are you hungry? I will ask the innkeeper to cook a bowl of noodles for you."
Yun Qingyi checked him while asking many questions.
"I am fine, really. Brother Qingyi, this afternoon I thought I saw you and Master, so I ran all around Pingyan Land looking for you. I am exhausted."
Mi Xingzhe said in a slightly spoiled tone.
"Let us go inside and talk."
Yun Qingyi quickly pulled Mi Xingzhe into the inn.
"Brother Qingyi, are you alone? Where is Master?"
Mi Xingzhe asked while looking around.
"Master thought you were still in the Demon Lord's hands, so he went to rescue you alone. I will send a message to Master now and tell him you are safe."
Yun Qingyi released a flowing light butterfly to deliver the message.
Inside the room, the two sat at the table. Mi Xingzhe told Yun Qingyi about everything that had happened in the past few days, while Yun Qingyi shared what had happened recently in the Liaoyin Immortal Realm.
"I did not do it!"
When Mi Xingzhe heard he had been accused of murdering the Medicine King, he jumped to his feet.
"I know, I know. Master and I both believe you did not do it. But when you disappeared it looked like you ran away in fear of guilt. Now that we have found you, everything can be explained when we return to the Liaoyin Immortal Realm."
Yun Qingyi comforted him and pulled him back to sit down.
"And that pot of Empty Valley Orchid was given to me by Miss Ruoying. How could that immortal just take it away?"
Mi Xingzhe complained sadly.
"I know. But she was also the one who kidnapped you from the Liaoyin Immortal Realm."
Yun Qingyi said angrily when hearing Hua Ruoying's name.
"Miss Ruoying kidnapped me? That is impossible. I was clearly taken by the fake Master."
Mi Xingzhe denied it.
"Fake Master?"
Yun Qingyi looked confused.
"Yes. When I woke up, I saw someone who looked exactly like Master. At first I thought it was really him. Later I discussed some medical knowledge with him and realized he could not understand any of it. That was when I discovered something was wrong."
Mi Xingzhe explained.
"Someone must have disguised himself as Master to lower your guard. What happened afterward? How did you escape?"
Yun Qingyi asked.
"I do not know. For a while I felt confused, like my body was sealed but still moving. When I woke up again I was already on the street in Pingyan Land. I turned around and saw you and Master passing by the street entrance, so I chased you the entire day."
Mi Xingzhe answered.
"It is good that you came back. You must be hungry. I will ask the innkeeper to prepare some food."
Yun Qingyi said gently as he walked toward the door.
"Brother Qingyi, I want meat."
Mi Xingzhe said playfully.
"And a good jar of wine."
"Alright."
Yun Qingyi agreed with a smile.
Meanwhile, Li Luoning had just left the Demon Lord's sleeping hall and was heading toward the place Shentu mentioned when he saw a flowing light butterfly flying toward him.
He stopped and received the message.
"Nian has returned. Waiting at the inn."
The butterfly from Yun Qingyi turned into several simple words.
After reading the message, Li Luoning knew there was no need to continue searching. He immediately turned back toward Pingyan Inn.
Meanwhile, inside the inn, Mu Han—who had been placed on the bed earlier—opened his eyes after hearing the door close.
He slowly sat up. The drunken expression on his face had completely disappeared. With a look of reluctance, he gazed toward the door.
He walked to the desk, wrote a letter, removed the bracelet from his wrist, placed it on top of the letter, and then quietly left.
After Mu Han left, the red bead on the bracelet gradually returned to its original color. However, the entire string of beads slowly dimmed. A crack appeared inside the bead that had been glowing red.
Outside in the countryside, Mu Han suddenly stopped walking, as if he had expected something.
Without turning around, he said calmly,
"Come out."
"Senior brother truly is impressive. You discovered me so easily."
Li Minghan's light laughter sounded from behind.
"You came here under someone's order to take my life, did you not?"
Mu Han recognized immediately that the man before him was not Li Luoning.
"You really are the eldest disciple of Master Liaoyin. How did you know I was not your junior brother?"
Li Minghan asked.
"Your Li family was exterminated back then because of the golden core inside you twin brothers. The only person who could pretend to be Luoning so perfectly would be his twin brother."
Mu Han said calmly.
"Oh? You also know about the twin cores? Then why does my useless brother seem completely unaware of his own power? He cannot even defeat a group of shadow guards."
Li Minghan sounded puzzled. With the power of Li Luoning's Chixi Core, his cultivation should have been much stronger.
"When your twin cores appear, they will inevitably cause bloodshed across the three realms. Long ago Master sealed Luoning's childhood memories so he could live peacefully. I do not know why you treat him as an enemy, but if this conflict could end peacefully, perhaps you two brothers could reunite…"
Mu Han tried to persuade him.
"I always thought Master Liaoyin was simply a wandering god who liked to travel everywhere. I did not expect him to enjoy interfering in others' affairs so much. It seems the master and disciple are truly alike."
Li Minghan interrupted with a mocking laugh.
"So today's battle between us cannot be avoided?"
Mu Han asked.
"You should know this. Although you are Master Liaoyin's disciple, the Moon Shadow Core inside me has already awakened. You cannot defeat me. You may as well give yourself a painless end."
Li Minghan lightly waved the black gold fan in his hand.
"We may as well try. But if I win, you must return with me to the Liaoyin Immortal Realm and reconcile with Luoning."
Mu Han had already foreseen his fate today. As soon as he finished speaking, he charged forward.
"Very well. Let me see what ability you have."
Li Minghan waved his fan and released a stream of black energy. At the same time, his other hand behind his back gently shook a bell.
Hearing him call himself "this Demon Lord," Mu Han frowned. Then he suddenly remembered a rumor. Since emerging from seclusion, the Demon Lord always wore a mask.
Before he could think further, Li Minghan's attack had already reached him. Mu Han crossed his palms before his chest to block it but was pushed several meters away.
Meanwhile, inside Pingyan Inn, Yun Qingyi returned upstairs after ordering food and wine.
"Niannian, this inn has several dishes you like. I also ordered their best wine. Later I will ask them to bring hot water as well."
He pushed open the door while speaking.
Inside the room, Mi Xingzhe stood with his back toward the door, staring silently out the window as if admiring the night scenery.
He did not respond at all.
"Niannian, what are you looking at?"
Thinking Mi Xingzhe had not heard him, Yun Qingyi walked behind him with the wine jar.
Mi Xingzhe still did not react. He remained standing stiffly, facing the window.
"Nian'nian? Nian'nian? Did you hear me? What are you looking at so seriously?"
After calling twice with no response, Yun Qingyi reached out and grabbed Mi Xingzhe's shoulder to turn him around.
The moment Mi Xingzhe turned, a sharp flash of cold light swept upward before Yun Qingyi's eyes.
A warm splash of blood spread in front of him.
"Ah… Nian… Nian'nian… what… what are you doing?"
Yun Qingyi slowly looked down at the short dagger buried in his abdomen. In disbelief, he slowly raised his head and stared at Mi Xingzhe, whose eyes were empty and lifeless.