This was a restrictive technique he had just picked up not long ago at the Mist-Hidden Pavilion, called “Thunder at a Flick of the Finger.” It was one of the signature skills of the Unspoken Sect. He hadn’t expected that using it for the first time would turn out so wonderfully.

Qin Wanru, though, was in no mood to share his delight.

The people she had brought this time might not have included any top experts who could stand on their own, but every one of them was either absolutely loyal to her or bound to her by solid common interests. Together, they were practically the backbone of her faction within the sect.

And now, in the blink of an eye, she had already lost one. If anyone else got hurt, it would be impossible to justify. Either to others or to herself. She made a snap decision and ordered the six remaining members to run as far and as fast as they could.

Her mood shifted sharply as well. Where before she had been telling herself to “stall for as long as possible,” now she found herself muttering, “Why isn’t it done yet over there?”

Luckily, before the demon’s ferocious glare could lock onto her again, Qin Wanru noticed his killing intent falter. He turned his head to look toward the distant horizon. A moment later, he let out a low, muffled growl, spread his body wide, and shot off in that direction.

Qin Wanru and Li Xun both let out long breaths of relief. Then, catching each other’s eyes, they saw the same look of release on the other’s face. They exchanged a smile, like old friends reunited after many years.

After sharing that smile, the two of them instinctively turned their heads toward the sky in the same direction. What they were thinking wasn’t exactly the same, but the meaning was close enough.

Everything’s fine over there… right?

....

“Chong Yu, after all these centuries apart, you don’t recognize your elder sister?”

The Yu Attendant didn’t respond right away. Her followers, though, began eyeing the two women before them with strange expressions. Both were stunningly beautiful, yet their qualities could not have been more different.

Elder sister? This Yu Attendant’s elder sister…

Among the five followers, two who were quicker on the uptake suddenly remembered an old, long-buried case. From there, it was only natural for their thoughts to leap to those two names. Names said to make Tongxuan children stop crying when invoked.

First was Jade Wanderer. And then…

Yin Wanderer!

Shock and fear had only just begun to take root when the Yu Attendant’s voice cracked out, pitched differently this time:

“Idiots, don’t lose focus—”

Too late! And even if they hadn’t lost focus, what difference would it have made?

Two bursts of blood exploded at the corners of Daoist Gui’s eyes. In the blink of an eye, that blinding red spread across his vision until the world itself seemed drenched in blood. The two dull cracks of skulls shattering only drove the point home all the more clearly.

With that as the backdrop, he started trembling uncontrollably. Every other thought was gone. All that filled his mind and soul was a single word:

Run!

But before he could even turn, a shadow flickered at the edge of his vision. His heart froze. He let out a hoarse cry:

“I’m the last of the Ten Current-Reversed Demons! My elder brother is Daoist Jia. Surely, senior, for his sake…”

It was almost impressive he managed to spit out so many words in such a short instant. But the last four he meant to beg—“spare my life”—never made it past his lips. A palm had already struck the top of his skull. Yin and yang–shifting true breath pierced through him as easily as paper, driving from crown to sole, wiping out every trace of vitality.

In the space of a breath, five rather capable cultivators had all been slaughtered. One by one, their corpses tumbled from the sky, and it was clear that in moments they would hit the ground as nothing but pulp.

Yin Wanderer brushed an imaginary speck of dust from her sleeve.

To her, killing five cultivators was no different than adjusting her robe with a flick of the arm.

All the more so now that she had fully mastered the Yin Charm Scripture. Even if Jade Wanderer himself were standing here, she would feel no fear. Of course, assuming a certain someone was willing.

Her gaze shifted back to the Yu Attendant, and a hint of helplessness showed on her face.

“Chong Yu, I don’t want to hurt you. But you can’t let that little beast in your arms ruin the time meant for us sisters to be together, can you?”

The Yu Attendant said nothing, but “kitten” in her arms twitched at Yin Wanderer’s words and burrowed its head even deeper.

The moment Yin Wanderer began her slaughter, Kitten had cleverly leapt into the crook of the Yu Attendant’s arm, tucking its head away. That alone had spared it from being casually cut down.

And the instant it nestled into her arms, the Yu Attendant had used it to send out a call for help to Net Throat Demon, who was only a hundred li away. If all went smoothly, it would take just two or three breaths for him to return and save her life.

As for Hundred Ghosts… well, that was a matter for later.

But by the time all five of her followers lay dead, Net Throat Demon was still nowhere to be seen. The Yu Attendant’s face had gone so pale it was nearly translucent. The delicate hand she had been using to gently stroke the bloodkiss now pressed down harder without her even realizing it.

Kitten yelped in pain, a sharp “ow,” but didn’t dare move an inch.

Drifting forward on a trail of mist and cloud, Yin Wanderer walked with measured steps.

“Chong Yu, why are you afraid? Are you afraid of me? Afraid of your own elder sister? Is it because of Gu Zhixuan? Is that man really worth your life? A man who murdered your husband, who raped you?”

The Yu Attendant pressed her lips together and gave the slightest shake of her head, but her body betrayed her, edging backward step by step.

Yin Wanderer’s eyes grew colder, though in the end she only let out a sigh. Then she flickered, and in an instant she stood right before the Yu Attendant.

The bloodkiss gave a strangled cry, squeezed its eyes shut, and buried its head deep in her arm.

But it all happened in the blink of an eye: a fingertip tapped against the Yu Attendant’s forehead. She was, after all, a cultivator at the True Person level, and shouldn’t have been so easily taken. Yet with her heart in such turmoil, she had left an opening, and Yin Wanderer struck true.

Her vision dimmed, but her face showed a look of release, as though a great weight had finally lifted. At last her eyes closed, and she collapsed into Yin Wanderer’s arms.

Another sigh escaped Yin Wanderer. One hand supported the fallen Yu Attendant, while the other seized the bloodkiss by the scruff of the neck, lifting it easily.

This little creature was the one Li Xun had singled out. Now it seemed there really was something unusual about it.

Though it had yet to take human form, its intelligence was no less than a person’s. Terror filled its pupils as its front paws flailed helplessly in the air, as if begging for mercy.

Yin Wanderer saw its cleverness and gave a slight smile.

“You’re a sensible little thing. Still, when did I ever say I was going to…”

Before the words kill you could leave her lips, her eyes suddenly turned cold. Looking again at the creature in her hand, she noticed its body had gone strangely limp. In the next instant, a red light flickered on its forehead, and a young girl’s voice came out from within.

“Huh? You’re really unreasonable, Daoist woman. Why are you hanging on to my kitten and refusing to let go?”

Yin Wanderer’s knowledge was far beyond Li Xun’s. With just one glance, she recognized the red gemstone set into the little demon's head as an extremely rare magical item from the Tongxuan Realm. It was a tool for remotely controlling a living creature’s consciousness, somewhat like corpse-driving or puppet-controlling techniques, though not quite so absolute.

The advantage was that it didn’t require sacrificing the host’s life.

“The Soul-Locking Radiant Orb? Gu Zhixuan has gotten more and more generous over the years.” She gave a soft laugh, lifting the bloodkiss even higher, until it was level with her own eyes. “This must be niece Wuyou. It’s been quite a while since our last meeting.”

The way she did it made it seem as though she were chatting directly with the bloodkiss. It looked almost comical, but neither party involved felt that way.

“Huh? Have we met? Who are you supposed to be?”

Lin Wuyou’s words were honest enough. Back in Songjing, the two had crossed paths, but since Yin Wanderer had hidden herself in the shadows, Wuyou had never actually seen her face.

Still, to say she couldn’t recognize Yin Wanderer at all probably had a touch of pretense to it.

Yin Wanderer didn’t mind. She smiled. “Is Gu Zhixuan around?”

“Father? He’s in seclusion right now. Hey, you still haven’t told me. Who exactly are you? I can’t just keep calling you ‘hey, hey,’ or simply ‘Daoist woman’… Ow! Mother, you’re holding me too tight, it hurts!”

After a muffled jumble of voices on the other end, the Soul-Locking Radiant Orb carried another voice. It was a calm voice, filled with a natural and easy composure.

“Yin Chonghua?”

“Lady Qixia?”

There was a brief pause. Yin Wanderer smiled, and it seemed the Demon Phoenix on the other side must have done the same.

In the end, it was the Demon Phoenix who spoke first. “When Qing Luan returned, she mentioned that you and Wei Bufan had run into some trouble. To see you safe and sound now is truly worth celebrating.”

Inwardly, Yin Wanderer gave a bitter smile. Outwardly, she simply laughed. “You’re too kind, Lady Qixia. It’s been over sixty years since I left this world. The world has changed beyond recognition. I feel like a wandering ghost adrift in it all. Gu Zhixuan has his methods, and so does Lady Qixia.”

“No matter how great my methods, they pale in comparison to yours. But tell me, why are you holding my maid and taking away my daughter’s beloved pet?”

A cold gleam flashed in Yin Wanderer’s eyes. That one word, “maid,” from the Demon Phoenix had clearly struck a nerve.

But she quickly steadied herself and gave a soft laugh. “This matter has nothing to do with you, Lady Qixia. If you’re free, why not go and fetch Gu Zhixuan instead? All he does is 'seclude himself in cultivation.' But we never see masters like Zhong Yin resorting to that. What's the point of it all? So pointless.”

“On this point, Wanderer, I agree.” the Demon Phoenix praised from the other side, then gave an order: “Go to the Hall of Supreme Mystery and see if your father is willing to meet an old friend.”

Lin Wuyou answered in a sulky “oh,” but Yin Wanderer suddenly said, “No need for that today. Soon I’ll be heading to the North Pole. Then I’ll meet with my old friend in person. wouldn’t that be far better? As for this BloodKiss, I’ve taken quite a liking to it. Why don’t you let me borrow it for a few days?”

“No way!” Before the Demon Phoenix could reply, Lin Wuyou blurted out in a rush, “That’s my kitten! Why should I give it to you? Mother, say something for me!”

The Demon Phoenix let out a laugh. “Silly girl, Wanderer is famous for doing as she pleases. Whether I speak or not makes no difference. If she has the ability, she’ll take it. Only…”

She paused, and her voice suddenly turned chilling, sharp enough to pierce the bones.

“You would do well to remember that the Tongxuan Realm is not what it once was.”