Chapter 50

After leaving the Pure Flame Pavilion, she came to Emotion Flower Valley? It made sense that she would join the crowd, given how many cultivators were attracted to this natural sanctuary.

In any case, she definitely wasn't here looking for him.

Xue Chenjing's gaze fixed on the bridal sedan chair. When they passed by each other earlier, at the moment the curtain lifted, he not only caught her familiar scent but also glimpsed the person inside. seaʀᴄh thё ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

She wore a bright red wedding dress, with golden phoenix feather patterns embroidered on her shoulders gleaming brilliantly. She demurely held a fan to cover her face, its tassels swaying with each movement of the sedan chair.

He couldn't see her face clearly, so he didn't know what expression she wore as she went to marry someone else.

Xue Chenjing turned around and followed the wedding procession, maintaining a small distance as he strolled along.

He wanted to see who she planned to marry. She couldn't even be fooled by him back then, so how could this ghostly thing deceive her? Or perhaps the groom was someone she genuinely wanted to marry, which was why even such basic illusion magic could fool her?

Xue Chenjing followed the noisy celebratory music for quite a distance, watching the sedan chair bounce along the way. When other cultivators stumbled upon this scene and tried to drive away the ghosts to save people, he acted first to chase them away.

He wouldn't allow anyone to block the wedding procession's path. He wanted to personally escort her to the wedding hall and see exactly who her groom was.

Finally, the System ran out of patience and couldn't help but urge: "Master, why are you just following? Hurry up and stop the wedding! You don't really want to watch the female lead marry someone else, do you?"

Xue Chenjing replied: "I do."

System: "???" The System was completely stunned by his single word "do," even wondering if its host had some special fetish. It was bad enough that he previously wanted the female lead to fall in love with Xue Mingyuan, though at least they were one and the same, and if the female lead had a happy ending with Xue Mingyuan, it would still count as completing the mission.

But what was happening now? The System was extremely worried - could such a host really achieve a happy ending with the female lead? If this mission failed, would it be destroyed?

The bridal sedan chair continued to sway, its poles creaking. They walked for a long time, out of the bamboo forest and onto a desolate path, heading increasingly into remote areas. The lanterns illuminated the night mist floating on the path, and dead leaves spun in the wind, looking at first glance like scattered spirit money.

The person sitting in the sedan chair had been waiting for a long time. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed as she repeatedly wanted to lift the curtain to look back. He had clearly discovered her and followed the sedan chair, so why hadn't he made his move?

The Vine Demon lowered her fan and took out a small mirror from her bosom to check her appearance. The mirror reflected an exquisitely beautiful face - painted eyebrows and eyes, rouge-tinted lips, slender shoulders, and a narrow waist - a perfectly proportioned figure. She absolutely loved this body.

This face would attract men, and these long legs would be perfect for wrapping around a man.

And then, drain them dry.

The Vine Demon thought this way, her body becoming soft enough to almost transform back into vines. After waiting for so long without seeing Xue Chenjing come to stop the wedding, she decided to take the initiative herself.

The sedan chair that had been swaying along suddenly began to shake violently. The creaking of the poles became increasingly shrill. From behind, Xue Chenjing saw the two sedan bearers in front appear to be attacked, causing the chair to tilt and crash heavily to the ground.

A shout erupted from the procession: "The bride is trying to escape, quickly catch her!"

The suona horns stopped abruptly, silencing the celebratory music. Whether it was the matchmaker or the musicians playing gongs and drums, they all rushed toward the sedan chair.

The bride in her red wedding dress burst out from behind the curtain, sword in hand, cutting down two ghosts that lunged at her. She broke through the encirclement and fled backward, stumbling as she lifted her skirts.

She raised her eyes and saw the person following behind, her eyes immediately brightening as she ran toward him joyfully, calling out: "Xue Chenjing, help me!"

Invisible tentacles hovered in the air, their tips covered in hard snake scales, as sharp as spears, already aimed at all the ghosts on the mountain path. They only needed his command to eliminate everything pursuing her.

But Xue Chenjing hesitated, his gaze searchingly falling on the person running toward him. She had put her sword behind her back, not pointing it at him, running toward him with complete trust.

When she got close, almost about to fall completely into his embrace, Xue Chenjing suddenly raised his hand, forcefully gripped her throat, and violently slammed her to the ground.

The bride's eyes widened in surprise, her crimson wedding dress fluttering like beautiful butterfly wings as it lifted into the air, before crashing heavily to the ground under the force of his fingers.

Xue Chenjing pinned her down, his fingertips pressing against the vital points of her neck, his gaze scanning her features inch by inch as he asked in a low voice: "Who are you, and why do you have my master's scent?"

The Vine Demon grabbed his wrist, tears seeping from the corners of her eyes as she gasped with difficulty: "Xue Chenjing, let me go! What's wrong with you?"

"That line does sound very much like her." Xue Chenjing smiled, showing some interest. "However, your sword stance is wrong. She would be more cautious, wouldn't lower her sword just because it's me. In fact, seeing me would make her grip her sword tighter, keeping the sharp edge of the blade pointed at me."

The System didn't scream in his head; it too had recognized the truth. The oath tablet in his heart remained silent. How regrettable - this person was truly a fake.

Only a fake would run toward him so unhesitatingly.

Seeing that he wasn't fooled by her at all, the Vine Demon's fingers gripping his wrist suddenly transformed into vines, their thorns piercing his flesh, their fine tendrils penetrating his blood vessels and growing wildly along his meridians.

Countless vines suddenly grew from around her body, shooting out from her sleeves and dress hem, wrapping around him.

Xue Chenjing lowered his eyes to look at his wrist, then returned his gaze to her face. His round pupils gradually elongated, with silver light flashing in their depths. "I'll ask you one more time: why do you have her scent?"

The Vine Demon laughed, her vines pulling at his belt. "Do you want to know? If you want to know, then become one with me. I have her face, her scent, her body - I'll make you feel good."

The wildly growing vines and leaves almost completely engulfed the two of them, spreading out layer upon layer like a green cocoon formed of vines. The Vine Demon's clear laughter echoed from within the cocoon.

The cultivators hiding in the forest gathered around, setting up a containment formation. Through her mirror, Jiang Xi saw this scene and ordered: "Once the Vine Demon gets the item, kill him."

The mirror-holding cultivator responded: "Yes, Palace Master."

Inside the vine cocoon, Xue Chenjing frowned as he pulled out the rootlets that had penetrated his meridians, listening to the Vine Demon's honest confession: "I am a spirit born from the vines at the bottom of the Sunken Flower Sea. With just a drop of blood essence, I can transform into the blood owner's appearance. After being subdued by the Zhaohua Palace Master, she brought me out of the Sunken Flower Sea and raised me in her courtyard."

The Vine Demon knelt blankly on the ground, revealing everything she knew: "Five days ago, the Zhaohua Palace Master took out a small porcelain bottle from a jewelry box and gave it to her senior disciple Shen Qingzhi. Shen Qingzhi walked from the room to my side, crushed the bottle and fed me the blood, using a spirit tree as nourishment to make me bloom and bear fruit, transforming me into this appearance to seek you out. I was to take a lotus seed from you and then kill you."

"Lotus seed." Xue Chenjing laughed. So after all that searching in the underground ghost city, the Zhaohua Palace people were looking for the so-called lotus seed.

He glanced at the Vine Demon, seeing her submit before his feet while wearing Yu Yi's appearance. At first he found it exciting, but after a few more looks, he found it utterly boring and coldly said, "No need to kneel."

The Vine Demon, receiving his command, obediently stood up.

Xue Chenjing asked another question: "How did the Zhaohua Palace Master obtain her blood?"

The Vine Demon shook her head, "I don't know."

Xue Chenjing changed his question, "Did the owner of the blood also come to Zhaohua Palace?"

The Vine Demon said: "Three days ago, a group of Immortal Alliance cultivators arrived at Zhaohua Palace. The blood's owner was with them, and they've now entered Emotion Flower Valley, heading for the Sunken Flower Sea in the innermost layer."

Inside the vine cocoon, there had been no movement for a long time. The cultivators outside seemed to grow impatient, their encirclement growing tighter. Xue Chenjing smiled at the corner of his mouth and asked the Vine Demon a few more questions. Seeing that she couldn't answer, he finally opened his palm and commanded, "Spit out her blood."

The vines and leaves around him trembled, and though the Vine Demon seemed to want to resist his control, her mouth involuntarily replied, "The blood essence has already merged with the vines. I can't spit it out unless..."

She bit down hard on her teeth, and patches of her face and neck split open, sprouting fresh vine leaves in an attempt to seal her mouth. Xue Chenjing gave a contemptuous smile and asked in an enticing tone, "Unless what?"

Fear flashed in the Vine Demon's eyes, her facial features almost distorting. Green tears streamed from her eye sockets, and her branches and leaves trembled. Her gaze was locked firmly in his eerie pupils as she answered against her will, "Unless... unless heavenly lightning burns my roots..."

"Don't cry with her face. It looks ugly," Xue Chenjing said with disgust. In his palm, he conjured a tailbone and carved lightning-summoning runes into it before her eyes. He handed it to her kindly and ordered, "Take this back, turn against the Palace Master of Zhaohua Palace. Wrap around her body, then activate it."

The Vine Demon's entire body began to shake, barely maintaining Yu Yi's appearance.

"This might be a bit difficult for you, but don't worry," Xue Chenjing said as demonic energy leaked from his body, invading the surrounding vines and making her stems grow even more robust. "You just begged me for help with that face, how could I refuse?"

The Vine Demon felt her power strengthening as endless demonic energy poured into her vines. In the past, she would have been overjoyed, but now she couldn't smile at all. No matter how much her power increased, she still couldn't refuse his commands.

She opened her hand, trembling as she clutched the self-destructive rune in her palm.

Xue Chenjing stepped back, tore off a leaf from the vine, and created a withered corpse in his image, pushing it into her arms. "Hold it well. You've successfully drained my essence and obtained the lotus seed."

The Vine Demon wrapped her hands around the corpse as Xue Chenjing's figure turned to mist, seeping into the ground and disappearing from the vine cocoon.

The cultivators surrounding them could see the vines growing stronger, with some branches even reaching past their barrier formations toward one of them. Frightened, that cultivator immediately activated a fire talisman to drive back the covetous vine.

The strengthening of the vines meant she had consumed Xue Chenjing's essence, and everyone knew what was happening inside the cocoon.

As expected of a spirit from the Sinking Flower Sea, the plan was proceeding smoothly. Perhaps they wouldn't even need to act – she could handle this person herself.

The surrounding cultivators waited patiently for a moment longer. Finally, the vines that had nearly covered the entire path began to retract with a rustle, and the cocoon opened to reveal the scene inside.

The Vine Demon adjusted her outer robe, her tongue sliding across her crimson lips as she squinted with satisfaction.

A withered corpse was entangled in her vines, its disheveled clothes revealing something still writhing beneath the skin, with fine tendrils growing from the vines densely crawling over him and burrowing into his flesh.

The Vine Demon glanced at the barrier formation and sneered, "I've already drained him dry. You can remove the formation now."

The lead cultivator cautiously approached, keeping watch for the demon while quickly examining the drained corpse. Finding nothing unusual, he turned his head and asked, "Did you get what the Palace Master wanted?"

"Of course. Do you think I'm as useless as you lot?" The Vine Demon looked at him disdainfully, her branches moving restlessly toward his feet until he quickly retreated. She snorted, "I'll deliver what the Palace Master wants personally."

The cultivator made a gesture, and the people surrounding them deactivated the formation. No one noticed that at the moment the barrier dissolved, a thin mist seeped from the ground, flickering briefly before hiding in the dark undergrowth.

The Zhaohua Palace cultivators quickly withdrew, leaving the forest completely silent. Xue Chenjing walked out from behind the trees, murmuring, "The Sinking Flower Sea... she's in the Sinking Flower Sea."

So she really had come to Emotion Flower Valley, to the Sinking Flower Sea, just two secret realms away from him. He wouldn't have to search for her everywhere after getting out – he could see her right away.

Xue Chenjing suddenly lost interest in wandering around the secret realm. Although he enjoyed watching those righteous cultivators being tormented by the violent spirit beasts and demons, his master was more important by comparison.

Yu Yi had entered the Sinking Flower Sea, surely to help him? She had already helped him retrieve his tailbone, so she would probably be willing to help him retrieve his spirit fire as well.

Xue Chenjing smiled softly and without further delay, ran toward the inner layers of the secret realm.