614 How Have You Been?

Mu Lingxi hammered her fair fists on Zhang Ruochen. "Why did you lie to me? Why didn't you tell me you were still alive? When you saw me in Liyuan City, you pretended not to know me. You're a bad man—the worst in the world!"

Zhang Ruochen woodenly stood still, allowing Mu Lingxi to beat him.

His eyes were also a little wet.

He did not know that Mu Lingxi loved him so deeply. Deep in his heart, he was quietly moved. He had been hurt by Chi Yao's betrayal, but now he finally encountered some warmth. At least in this world, there was someone to care and feel for him, to shed tears and to laugh for his sake.

How precious this relationship was!

After a long time, Zhang Ruochen apologized in an anguished voice. "I'm sorry."

Mu Lingxi bit her lower lip gently and said with an aggrieved expression, "Apologies won't make any difference. You owe too many people too much, not just me... "

Suddenly, she stopped talking as she appeared to remember something. As if realizing she had done something wrong, she agitatedly dashed out from Zhang Ruochen's arms, taking three steps back and keeping her distance.

Rather surprised, Zhang Ruochen stared at her with a baffled expression.

Mu Lingxi looked very pained. She struggled and hesitated before finally asking, "Does Sister Chen know you're still alive?"

Zhang Ruochen stared at her and suddenly understood. He shook his head gently and said, "I didn't tell her. Just three people, including you, know I'm still alive."

"Why didn't you tell her? Don't you know that she cares for you? She just isn't very good at expressing herself. Why did you hide the truth? Don't you know how sad she has been?" asked Mu Lingxi, very puzzled.

Zhang Ruochen's eyes gazed into the distance. He looked at the blue moonlit mountains far away and said, "I'm a man who can't be exposed to the world. I can only live in darkness. She's an Heiress of the Chens and lives in the light. She has her parents and a huge family behind her. As long as the Empress is alive, we can never be together."

"But... aren't you treating her too cruelly?" asked Mu Lingxi.

"Telling her that I'm alive would be even more cruel."

Zhang Ruochen said, "Too many people in Kunlun's Field want the Time and Space Descendant dead. They wish to nip me in the bud. If news that I'm still alive leaks out, they will deal with Yanchen, my mother, and my friends first. They can only be safe if I disappear completely."

Mu Lingxi's beautiful eyes gazed intently at Zhang Ruochen.

At this moment, she finally realized how infinitely pained Zhang Ruochen had been. He could not return home, see his fiancee, or meet his friends.

It was all just because so many people wanted the Time and Space Descendant dead. That included the invincible Empress Chi Yao.

Empress Chi Yao was like a huge mountain weighing heavily on him, making him unable to breathe.

Unless he could push that mountain away, he would never see the light.

Huang Yanchen and Concubine Lin at least had people to comfort them, to take care of them and to help them out of their sorrow.

On the other hand, Zhang Ruochen was more pitiful. As long as the Empress was alive, he must live in secrecy, without help or care from anyone. He could trust no one and must live a totally unsettled life as an exiled fugitive enduring loneliness, darkness, and inner turmoil.

If he weren't so helpless, would he be willing to live in hiding?

Mu Lingxi finally understood why Zhang Ruochen had pretended not to know her. He simply did not want to hurt her or get her involved.

She extended her arm and gently tugged Zhang Ruochen's sleeve with two fingers. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blame you. I know you're in a difficult situation. How about going to the Moon Worship Sect with me? I'll let you be my Great Guardian. What do you say?"

Zhang Ruochen stared at her. "Why does every woman want a Great Guardian?"

"Who else wants one? Who are you talking about? Who dares to snatch my Great Guardian away?"

With her hands akimbo, she did not look like an immortal fairy. Instead, she looked like a playful elf who was very angry.

Zhang Ruochen knew that she was not really angry but had just wanted to amuse him.

"I was just joking."

Zhang Ruochen shook his head and picked up the metal mask from the ground. He said, "Although the Demonic Sect is very powerful and you can fight the imperial court secretly, there might not be any place there for me. My feud with Empress Chi Yao isn't as simple as you think.

"Empress Chi Yao is just too strong and powerful—enough to make anyone despair. Before I have the power to fight her, I mustn't walk too closely with anyone because it might endanger them. Do you understand, Senior sister apprentice Duanmu?"

Mu Lingxi's round eyes stared intently at Zhang Ruochen. It felt as if she could feel his emotions. She asked, "Is there any burden you bear that you've never told anyone? What is this feud between you and the Empress?"

"Please stop asking. Even if you ask, I won't say anything." Zhang Ruochen replied.

Mu Lingxi gently bit her lip and stopped trying to force Zhang Ruochen to reveal anything else. She suddenly embraced him tightly from behind and said, "I don't care about your feud with the Empress. Now that I know you aren't dead, you're not leaving me behind."

Zhang Ruochen put on his metal mask again. He felt a little helpless and said, "Release me first."

"No, I won't. You once told me that even the most ruthless man in the world will be attracted to me. He will kneel at my feet. Don't you know how happy I was when I first heard that? Now I give you this opportunity, you alone," said Mu Lingxi.

In the past, Zhang Ruochen had a marriage engagement with Huang Yanchen. Mu Lingxi had not dared to vie with her for him or get too close to him.

However, Zhang Ruochen had already died once. He was no longer the Zhang Ruochen of old. So why should she not vie for him now?

Huang Yanchen might beat or scold her in the future, but, for now, she would just embrace Zhang Ruochen tightly and never let go.

At this moment, a wave of Spiritual Power approached Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi from afar, quickly overwhelming them.

Zhang Ruochen and Mu Lingxi were both masters—they could naturally feel someone probing with Spiritual Power.

"SWOOSH!"

Zhang Ruochen swiveled his palms and pushed them forward. He released a wave of Spiritual Power to break down the probing wave.

It was definitely the Spiritual Power of Ice Demon.

"Damn it. Of all the times, they have to come now!" Mu Lingxi grumbled angrily.

Zhang Ruochen asked, "Should we fight them or not?"

"Of course we should. If we don't, they would think I'm scared."

Mu Lingxi started running Genuine Qi around her body. A chilly light glittered in her eyes. She said, "I had wanted to lure you out, so last time I conceded to them. Since they've ruined my happy moment, now I shall be merciless."

Zhang Ruochen took out the Thunder Pearl and gripped it tightly in his hand.

Mu Lingxi glanced at Zhang Ruochen, looking astounded. She blinked her eyes and said, "Ice Demon has practiced Spiritual Power for nearly 100 years. He is very powerful. Are you sure you can defeat him using your Spiritual Power alone?"

Mu Lingxi knew that Zhang Ruochen was extremely gifted in Spiritual Power, but the enemy they were facing was an old demon with great Spiritual Power.

No matter how gifted he was, how could he beat the Ice Demon's century-old cultivation?

After all, Zhang Ruochen primarily practiced Martial Arts, not Spiritual Power.

Zhang Ruochen looked calm and said, "Don't worry about me. I am confident that I can defeat him."

Before he had even finished speaking, Mu Lingxi discovered Zhang Ruochen had totally vanished. Not a trace of his aura was detectable.

"Huaa!"

The temperature in the air suddenly dropped, becoming colder and colder.

From the horizon, Ice Demon quickly flew in and then hovered 300 meters above the ground.

In the darkness, sounds of wind breaking through the air rang out as evil cultivators quickly approached from all directions. There were too many to count. They completely encircled Mu Lingxi.

Ice Demon looked down on Mu Lingxi. He laughed in a husky, victorious voice. "Your Highness, Saintess, how have you been?"

Mu Lingxi folded her arms across her breasts and beamed. "Ice Demon, do you think your underlings can catch me? I advise you to bring out Cyan-robed Emissary and Hunter first. Only those two are good enough to fight me."

Ice Demon snorted. "My underlings? You think the Black Market doesn't have any masters? Today, I shall let you know how powerful we are. Set up the Powerful Phoenix-besieged Array! Whoever catches the Demonic Saintess will get 10,000,000 Spiritual Crystals, plus a Dragon Rising Elixir."

Those who had arrived to catch the Demonic Saintess were all top fighters. They had at least reached the First Change in the Fish-dragon Realm.

All the evil cultivators hid in the dark forest. They injected Genuine Qi into the jade stone and activated the Inscription of Array.

"SWOOSH!"

Dozens of light columns immediately soared into the sky. They formed a gigantic, intertwining light hoop. Very soon it would merge to form a Combined Attack.

Obviously, Mu Lingxi would not wait idly for death. Her wrists moved and her two snowy-white fingers were pinched together. A green ox-hair needle appeared at her fingertips.

It was an Eighth-Grade Genuine Martial Arm, the Astral Wind Breaking Needle.

The green Astral Wind Breaking Needle whizzed out into the darkness. An evil cultivator of the Third Change in the Fish-dragon Realm was hit.

"BOOM!"

The Astral Wind Breaking Needle exploded, forming a powerful energy vortex. It mangled an evil cultivator in the Third Change in the Fish-dragon Realm and tore him into pieces.

The great destructive power created a five-meter crater on the ground.

It was full of broken bones and crimson blood.

Mu Lingxi kept releasing needles. Her Astral Wind Breaking Needles flew out swiftly like raindrops, hitting the evil cultivators of the Black Market.

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

…

In an instant, 17 or 18 evil cultivators in the Fish-dragon Realm were killed by the Astral Wind Breaking Needles. Their exploded bodies were a mangled mess.