“I have no grudge against you,” the shade replied. “It’s an enemy of yours that wants your life.” The shade hovered in midair, following Yun Ruoyan wherever she went. Running circles around her in the forest was Pei Ziao, whom the shade was controlling in an attempt to break Yun Ruoyan’s concentration.

If Yun Ruoyan was even a little distracted, it would kill her immediately, then hand Yi Qianying her heart. However, despite the prolonged conversation, Yun Ruoyan didn’t seem to relax at all. Because the shade had to be cautious of her Scarlet Eye, it didn’t dare attack her recklessly.

“Who’s trying to kill me?” Yun Ruoyan pressed.

“I can’t tell you that, unless you’re dead,” the shade replied.

Yun Ruoyan suddenly remembered that the Lin sisters had told her that Zong Yang had seen Yi Qianying in Kongming Academy, but she hadn’t made a public appearance. What could be going on?

Of the students of Kongming Academy, the only ones that had really tried to kill her were Rong Yueshan and Yi Qianying. Yun Ruoyan had just seen Rong Yueshan, and her intuition told her that Rong Yueshan was at most an accomplice. In that case, there was only one possibility for the mastermind: the recently released Yi Qianying.

“Did you kill the crown prince Li Qianxiao as well?” Yun Ruoyan suddenly asked. If Yi Qianying was somehow able to send an assassin against her, then she could naturally have done so against Li Qianxiao as well.

Yun Ruoyan firmly believed that Yi Qianying hated Li Qianxiao at least as much as she hated her. Li Qianxiao’s death had been rather unusual, and there had been a strange, black aura about his corpse. It seemed very similar to the substance that made up this incorporeal shade.

Combining these pieces of information, Yun Ruoyan was almost certain that Li Qianxiao had been killed by this monster in front of her, and the mastermind behind this entire ploy was none other than Yi Qianying.

“Is your mistress Yi Qianying?” Yun Ruoyan continued.

“Since you already know everything, you can’t live any longer,” the black shade suddenly croaked. “Pei Ziao, kill Yun Ruoyan!”

The rustling noise that had surrounded Yun Ruoyan suddenly stopped. In the blink of an eye, a spear suddenly shot toward her.

His heirloom spear! Yun Ruoyan thought, hurriedly shielding herself with her Scarlet Eye, which she transformed into the shape of a dagger.

As Yun Ruoyan blocked the attack, sparks flew into the air. Pei Ziao’s cultivation was below that of Yun Ruoyan, so he had to retreat quite a few steps in order to stand steady. It was only then that Yun Ruoyan saw Pei Ziao’s appearance. His face was expressionless, his eyes dazed—clearly, he was being controlled by some sort of demonic technique.

“Your cultivation’s really quite advanced,” the black shade commented greedily. “I wonder how your heart will taste? Hearts rich in spiritual energy are the best nourishment for me, far more than those unsightly beasts. Of course, cultivator cores would be even better, but I doubt they’d appear in such a low-grade realm…”

The voice continued trying to distract Yun Ruoyan, but she was able to split her focus. She glanced warily at Pei Ziao even as she listened to the shade. When the shade realized that its distraction wasn’t working, it commanded Pei Ziao, “What are you waiting for? Kill her!”

Like a puppet, Pei Ziao didn’t hesitate before tossing the spear in his hand toward Yun Ruoyan. Thanks to her past life, Yun Ruoyan was very familiar with Pei Ziao’s spear technique; he was about to control the spear with his mental energy so that he could attack her from a distance. Since his cultivation was below hers, this would be far safer than attacking her in close range.

It seemed as though his possession hadn’t sapped his understanding of his spear techniques.

Yun Ruoyan’s Scarlet Eye had transformed into the shape of a sword, ready to defend against Pei Ziao’s spear’s attack. Suddenly, however, her vision turned dark, and she couldn’t even see her fingers ahead of her.

While Yun Ruoyan had been focusing on Pei Ziao’s spear, the shade had suddenly enveloped her with a gust of black fog. This scenario was beyond Yun Ruoyan’s expectations; before she could react to the sudden darkness, she sensed that Pei Ziao’s spear was rapidly approaching her. Without any rational thought, Yun Ruoyan subconsciously held her sword in front of her in an attempt to ward it off.

With a clank, the Scarlet Eye did hit the spear—but only its haft. The spearhead, which she had failed to block, struck her neck. Luckily, her spiritual membrane had instinctively formed in front of her. Although the spearhead was able to penetrate the membrane and scratch her skin, it wasn’t a serious injury.

Yun Ruoyan gingerly touched the neck on her wound: it wasn’t bleeding profusely, and wouldn’t interfere with her fighting ability for the moment.

“Hahaha!” the black shade cackled. “What fragrant blood! You, you’re a human furnace, aren’t you? Your heart will be more nourishing for me than a peak first-rank sword saint’s cultivation core! Pei Ziao, kill her now, now!” the shade commanded Pei Ziao frantically, and his spear began a rapid-fire attack against Yun Ruoyan amidst the darkness.

With her intuition alone, Yun Ruoyan tried to ward off its blows. While she had the advantage in terms of cultivation, the spear was relentless and never seemed to flag. In mere minutes, she had been cut on her arms, wrists, and legs.

“Qiuqiu, Qiuqiu! Wake up, I need your help!” Yun Ruoyan called out mentally as she continued to dodge. However, ever since Yun Ruoyan became an eighth-rank blademaster, Qiuqiu had fallen into longer and longer periods of sleep. There were even times when it wouldn’t wake for days or weeks on end. According to Li Mo, these extended periods of cultivation were particularly important to Qiuqiu, so Yun Ruoyan tried not to summon it unless the situation were urgent.

Now that the situation had indeed devolved to such a state, she had no choice but to wake Qiuqiu up.

“What’s the problem, Mistress?” But before Yun Ruoyan could explain, Qiuqiu sensed Yun Ruoyan’s plight. “Wait, where’s Li Mo?”

“I left too quickly for him to catch up,” Yun Ruoyan explained.

“Let me try contacting him.”

After a period of cultivation, Qiuqiu’s mental energy was now stronger than Yun Ruoyan’s. Not only was it able to pass through the bracelet’s seal, it could even communicate with Li Mo, whose mental energy was equally well developed, over short distances.

Li Mo was currently rushing through the forest. He had also seen the green scrap of cloth that Yun Ruoyan did, but it was in a direction opposite that which Yun Ruoyan had gone in. After a long, fruitless chase, Li Mo finally realized that he had been tricked. He rushed back to where he had seen the scrap of cloth when Qiuqiu suddenly contacted him, “Li Mo, come quickly! My mistress is in danger!”

Li Mo’s speed almost doubled the moment he heard Qiuqiu’s cry. His spiritual membrane couldn’t form fast enough to keep up. A few errant branches scraped Li Mo’s face, drawing blood, but Li Mo couldn’t care less.

“Mistress, you have to hold out for a few more moments. Li Mo’s almost here!” Qiuqiu shouted.

By this point, Yun Ruoyan’s body was full of wounds—none of which were life-threatening on their own, the same way that ant bites were relatively minor, but if there were tens or even hundreds of such wounds…

Yun Ruoyan gritted her teeth and continued to fight with Pei Ziao, but she suddenly noticed something amiss. The wounds all over her body began giving off an unusual sensation of cold, followed by a persistent itchiness that seeped all the way to her bones.

“Mistress, this fog’s poisonous!” Qiuqiu shouted. “This is a corpse poison of sorts, one that can spread through the bloodstream and turn an infected cultivator into a puppet!”

“Is there an antidote?” Yun Ruoyan thought she could feel the poison extending to her heart and brain.

“Yan’er!”

Before Qiuqiu could respond, Li Mo’s voice came from afar.

“Li Mo!” Yun Ruoyan wanted to call out to Li Mo, only to find that her tongue had gone numb and her four limbs no longer responsive. A sharp pain struck her chest, and the black fog in front of her slowly dissipated. Li Mo’s silhouette appeared in front of Yun Ruoyan’s eyes.

In front of Li Mo was a large blaze of fire, one in which a black shade was struggling. It screamed, its voice hoarse and difficult to bear. Pei Ziao was slumped over in front of Li Mo, and Yun Ruoyan couldn’t tell if he were dead or alive.

Yun Ruoyan lowered her head to see Pei Ziao’s spear thrust into her chest, but she couldn’t feel any sensation of pain. Her body had turned wooden all over, and it seemed to float up as she slumped over to the ground, unable to control or move her limbs at all. Before she could hit the ground, a pair of strong arms caught her in their embrace.

Yun Ruoyan saw Li Mo staring at her in agony, and she slowly forced a sentence out of leaden lips. “Li Mo, don’t let me become a puppet…”