Just as Zhang Ling and the others arrived furiously in Tiannan. Zi Yuan and Su Chan were on the roof of a building next to their residence, looking around vigilantly and feeling uneasy.
Knowing that the other party would definitely be able to find this place, they did not dare to go home directly. If they really insisted and followed them directly into the house, it would be a massacre.
Su Chan looked around anxiously on the roof, searching for Li Yundong and saying to Zi Yuan, “Sister Zi Yuan, Yun Dong will come back, right?”
The pressure in Zi Yuan was significant. She knew that tonight they had deeply offended several of the most important Taoists cultivation sects in the world. As the saying goes, an innocent man is not guilty, but his wealth will bring him trouble. Li Yundong had stolen the Renyuan Jindan and allowed others to discover his footprints. That was an unthinkable thing.
Zi Yuan was inwardly criticizing Li Yundong for insisting on snatching the Renyuan Jindan. “With his strength and willingness to follow the prescribed order of cultivation, it shouldn’t take long for him to become an extremely powerful Great Cultivator. Why would he take a risk by stealing the Renyuan Jindan?”
Zi Yuan did not refute Li Yundong’s opinion and had followed his advice in that urgent situation, but now she did not know what to do and could not wait to discuss it with Li Yundong.
But neither of them waited for Li Yundong’s return. Even though Zi Yuan was usually calm, she couldn’t help having a sort of panic at this moment. However, Su Chan was even more flustered than her, so she had to pretend to be calm and comfort Su Chan, saying, “Don’t worry. Li Yundong is very alert and can settle a score extremely well. He will definitely escape.”
Su Chan paced around anxiously. “Then why hasn’t he come back yet? I’m so worried. Maybe I’ll go find him!”
Saying this, Su Chan got ready to fly up and look for Li Yundong’s whereabouts.
Zi Yuan hurriedly stopped her and said coaxingly, “Don’t worry. Maybe Li Yundong is afraid that they will find him in the house, so he is leading them around in circles. If so, where will you be able to find him?”
Su Chan was so anxious that she was on the brink of tears. “But, but I’m just worried,” she said, her lip quivering.
When Zi Yuan saw that Su Chan was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, unable to be persuaded, she couldn’t help becoming more and more anxious herself. She thought, “Could it be that something really has happened to Li Yundong?”
Su Chan patiently waited for a while, then gritted her teeth and said, “No, I’m going to find him. Sister Zi Yuan, you wait here, lest he misses us when he comes back. He’ll be worried again.”
Zi Yuan thought for a moment before responding, “No, let me go. You already have too many enemies in the cultivation world. It’ll be slightly safer if I go.”
Su Chan hesitated for a moment and was about to speak when a green light flashed and a figure suddenly appeared not far from them. Su Chan focused her eyes and saw that there was a handsome boy carrying a big black fan as tall as a man standing not far away and looking at her with a smile. If it wasn’t Li Yundong, who else could it be?
Su Chan was overcome with joy. Like a little swallow returning to its nest, she threw herself into Li Yundong’s arms and yelled, “You scared me to death!”
Li Yundong spread his hands, took her into his arms, and said with a smile, “What’s wrong?”
Su Chan cried and laughed simultaneously. “Why didn’t you come back for so long? It’s almost dawn. I was so afraid that something had happened to you.”
Li Yundong rubbed her hair and said softly, “Silly girl, how could I have gotten hurt?”
As he spoke, he noticed that Zi Yuan was staring at him from not far away. He smiled and nodded at Zi Yuan, asking, “Did everything go smoothly?”
Zi Yuan didn’t want to disturb Li Yundong and Su Chan’s reunion and had just been stood watching off to one side. When she saw Li Yundong talking to her, she stepped forward and said, “We are all fine. Just now, Su Chan wanted to leave and find you. Why did you come back so late? How did you know we were here?”
Li Yundong chuckled. “I was waiting at the entrance of the cave for a long time. Since I didn’t get any news from you, I thought you must have escaped, so I brought the Fan of Seven Treasures to protect me. I was lucky to have escaped, but I didn’t go far after escaping the cave, just stayed hidden in the mountain. When I saw these guys rushing to Tiannan aggressively, I followed them from a distance.”
Zi Yuan was shocked. “They’re here? Where?”
Li Yundong continued smiling and said, “They’ve come, but they went back again. They must have been afraid of alerting the ordinary mortals around us, so they didn’t dare to fight with us and went back the way they came.”
A contemplative expression appeared on Zi Yuan’s face as she thought this over. “That’s very likely!” As she spoke, she looked at Li Yundong and couldn’t help but sigh. “Why were you so reckless this time? Why did you steal Renyuan Jindan whilst among so many cultivators? Didn’t you ever consider what consequences your sect might face?”
Li Yundong didn’t try to justify himself. He touched Su Chan’s hair, then turned to Zi Yuan and said, “I’m sure they won’t come tonight. It’s windy here. Let’s go back and talk.”
Zi Yuan had no choice but to nod. As long as Li Yundong was by Su Chan’s side, even if the sky collapsed, she would only be using it as a quilt. The little girl was nodding like a chicken pecking at rice. She giggled and said, “Yundong, you’re so imposing today. You managed to fend off and slip away from so many pursuers alone!”
Li Yundong chuckled and didn’t say anything. He flew back to his own balcony with Su Chan and Zi Yuan.
Since Li Yundong and the other two families near him were all cultivators, they had no habit of going through the main door and were instead used to leaving the balcony door open. Li Yundong landed in his residence and pushed his way inside. He looked around and saw that the room was dark and frighteningly quiet. The little foxes and the others seemed to have fallen asleep.
Li Yundong nodded to Su Chan and Zi Yuan. The three of them tiptoed through the door and then headed into Li Yundong’s room together.
After Li Yundong had signaled for Su Chan to close the door, he said to Zi Yuan, “You just asked me why I wanted to grab the Renyuan Jindan, didn’t you?”
Zi Yuan nodded. “That’s right. You’re getting yourself into trouble!”
Li Yundong was not angry. He smiled slightly and asked, “Then I want to ask you, if I hadn’t grabbed the Renyuan Jindan, would the Zhengyi School let you go?”
Zi Yuan was stunned and did not speak.
Li Yundong asked again, “Then, will the Zhengyi Sect let us go?”
There was a thoughtful expression on Zi Yuan’s face. After a moment of silence, she still chose to remain silent.
Li Yundong said, “As you’ve seen before, the Zhengyi Sect coerced you and me again and again. They were so aggressive that they didn’t want to give us a chance to live at all. In their eyes, the members of the Fox Zen School are a different species and should be wiped out, while you’re a traitor who is helping the rebels. Do you think we can make them reconsider?”
Zi Yuan sighed softly and said, “There’s no need to offend so many cultivation sects in this world.”
Li Yundong laughed and asked, “You’re acting strange. Last time, you encouraged me to grab the Medicine King Tripod. This time, I stole the Renyuan Jindan, but you’re complaining so much. What’s on your mind?”
Zi Yuan sighed and said, “How could that be the same? With the Medicine King Tripod, it’s equivalent to having a chicken laying eggs. You won’t starve to death in the future. Whatever happens, no matter how hungry you are, you will have eggs to eat. It’s normal for people to grab a chicken when they are about to starve. However, the Renyuan Jindan is just an egg. Before you even became very hungry, you offended almost all of the sects of cultivation in the world just by grabbing an egg. Do you think that was a good deal?”
Li Yundong shook his head and said, “But we can’t even deal with the Zhengyi School, so why should we need to care about the other sects? Anyway, offending one is also an offense, and offending many is also an offense. These cultivators have nothing to say when they get all the benefits in the world, but if someone takes some benefits for themselves, they will become jealous and secretly look to make trouble with you! Wasn’t the best proof to be found when we participated in the tea competition last time? If we don’t fight for ourselves, do you expect the other sects to give us a way out?”
The more Li Yundong spoke, the tougher his tone became. He said unceremoniously, “Zi Yuan, don’t be silly! You and I can’t turn back anymore. It’s better to grab Renyuan Jindan and improve our own strength! These days, only the strong survive. It’s absolutely impossible to rely on other people to be merciful!”
The longer Su Chan stayed with Zi Yuan, the more she respected Zi Yuan’s character. When the little girl saw that Li Yundong’s words had struck Zi Yuan speechless, she couldn’t bear it. So she gently pulled Li Yundong’s arm and said, “Yundong, don’t talk to sister Zi Yuan like that. She said it for your own good.”
Li Yundong hadn’t expected Su Chan to take the initiative to speak up for Zi Yuan. He chuckled and tweaked the tip of the little girl’s nose, then said in a gentle voice, “Give us a minute. I have something to ask Zi Yuan about one-on-one. I’ll call you in later, okay?”
Su Chan replied with a nod and looked at Li Yundong with eager eyes. “Okay, but don’t be angry with sister Zi Yuan. Talk it over nicely.”
Having said that, she then turned her face and said to Zi Yuan, “Sister Zi Yuan, Yundong has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Don’t mind him.”
Li Yundong couldn’t help but reach out and slap her round butt before scolding her with a smile. “It’s you who acts like an innocent old man and pretends to be good on both sides. I’m going to be a bad guy. Hurry up and come in later!”
“Ah!” Su Chan cried. She covered her butt with both hands and pulled a face at Li Yundong, then turned around and went out. Before the door had fully closed, she stretched out her head and looked at him worriedly. Her eyes turned round and round, seeming to say: “Yundong, don’t be angry with sister.”
How could Li Yundong not understand the little girl’s thoughts? He laughed and said sternly, “You still want to see what’s going on? If you look in here again, I’ll slap you again!”
Su Chan stuck out her tongue and closed the door.
With a smile on her face, Zi Yuan watched the door click shut. She sighed softly and said, “You’re so lucky to have an intimate partner like Su Chan.”
Li Yundong nodded, also sighing. “I sure am.”
Zi Yuan smiled and said, “If you have anything to ask me, just say it.”
Li Yundong’s expression turned grave and he asked, “Let’s start with when we went to Mount Gezao.”
Zi Yuan nodded in acknowledgment.
“I have a few questions,” Li Yundong began. “Why did you go after Su Chan when she had just come out of the room and you heard that it was Cao Yi or Zhuang Yating?”
Zi Yuan sighed softly. “I knew that with your intelligence, this matter wouldn’t stay hidden for long, but I wasn’t expecting it to be discovered quite so soon.”
Li Yundong’s expression was solemn. “Tell me quickly, this thing is very important and very strange. We followed this person to Gezao Sect. Why would Yan Fang appear again! I can understand that Yan Fang has the Liuhe, but why did Yan Fang appear when we pursued the senior uncle of Fox Zen School to Gezao Sect? If it’s just a coincidence, it doesn’t make any sense. Is Yan Fang also Cao Yi or Zhuang Yating?”
Zi Yuan nodded slowly. “You’ve got it. Back when we were eating in the mall, Su Chan and the others went to buy clothes. I didn’t want to go with them, but Ruan Hongling told me that she had seen Second Shibo Yan Fang nearby. I was shocked, so I followed her out. Later, I found that Shibo Yan Fang’s Yang Spirit was extremely vigorous. She had been out of her body in Yang Spirit for such a long time. It was impossible for her to be so vigorous without her body. Moreover, she seemed to be well aware of our actions. It’s very likely that she has been lurking around us for a long time.”
Li Yundong thought of something and said, “On top of that, she has been possessed by Mo Ahshi before, so you suspect that she is hiding in the Fox Zen School?”
“That’s right!” said Zi Yuan. “That’s why I rushed to the locker room right away. I wanted to see who was with everyone and who was alone. Second Shibo’s Yang Spirit had just possessed her, so she should not have been able to skillfully go out of her body in Yang Spirit and remain unaffected. She would have had to have hidden in a place where no one could see her. While everyone was outside, only Cao Yi and Zhuang Yating were in the locker room. At that time, I began to suspect them.”
Li Yundong frowned when he heard that. He said hatefully, “Yan Fang really wants to destroy my Fox Zen School! Not only did she kill Mo Ahshi, but she’s also possessed Cao Yi or Zhuang Yating. She’s really detestable! Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?”
Zi Yuan smiled and said, “My reason is the same as yours when you asked Su Chan to leave.”
Li Yundong fell silent. He had sent Su Chan away because he was afraid that her words and deeds would leak out after hearing about this. He was also afraid that the little girl would not be able to take such an emotional blow.
Li Yundong thought for a moment and said reluctantly, “Su Chan can’t control her words, I can understand that, but I wouldn’t make such a careless mistake, right? How could you hide such a big thing from me? If Yan Fang does harm to others, how will I explain it to others?”
Zi Yuan sighed. “I was sure that Yan Fang would not make a move. She had gone through great pains to hide right under our noses. She must have a plan, and it must be a good one! However, this matter is indeed my fault. I’ll apologize to you now.”
Li Yundong waved his hand and said, “Forget it. Since it’s come to this, it’s useless to apologize. I’ll ask you a second question.”
However, Zi Yuan smiled and asked in reply, “You must have a lot of questions. Why don’t we ask one each? That’ll be fairer.”
Li Yundong thought for a moment before saying, “Well, okay. If you have any questions, you can ask me.”
Zi Yuan nodded and asked, “How are you going to deal with the Renyuan Jindan that you snatched back? If I’m not wrong, you will give it to either Su Chan or Zhou Qin. But which of the two do you want to entrust it to?”
This sentence suddenly made Li Yundong fall silent and become lost in thought.
