Chu Mingwei’s barrier could stop Wu Yunzi, but it could not stop Zhu Yurong, who was immune to all formations.
Confident that he had escaped danger by playing dead, Zhu Yurong had stumbled his way up Yilan Peak. He passed through Chu Mingwei’s formation with surprising ease, only to be blocked in front of a tightly shut courtyard gate.
Left circling back and forth without finding a way in, Zhu Yurong grew anxious and instinctively dropped onto all fours again. Pressing against the door, he shouted loudly, “Little monster, I’m back!” “Little monster, open the door! There are bad people behind me!”
Almost the moment Zhu Yurong entered the formation, the two inside had already sensed him. Hearing his chaotic shouting outside, they exchanged a helpless glance.
Chu Mingwei casually threw on an outer robe, leaned down, and kissed Xiao Lingyu on the forehead. “It’s late. Lingyu, go to sleep first. I’ll go settle Zhu Yurong.”
Xiao Lingyu watched his departing figure but found no trace of sleepiness. After thinking for a moment, he was about to get up and check on Zhu Yurong himself—only to see Chu Mingwei already walking back in, holding Zhu Yurong in his arms in human form.
“Little monster! There’s a bad person!” Zhu Yurong, who had been quiet in Chu Mingwei’s arms, immediately became excited upon seeing Xiao Lingyu. Struggling wildly, he tried to leap into Xiao Lingyu’s embrace.
Chu Mingwei walked forward and placed him directly onto the bed.
Zhu Yurong scrambled over on hands and feet and clung tightly to Xiao Lingyu’s neck. “Little monster, there’s a bad person!”
Xiao Lingyu glanced at Chu Mingwei, then gently patted the child in his arms. “Where is there a bad person?”
Now safely back in a familiar embrace, Zhu Yurong gained courage. He complained indignantly, “It’s that very annoying-smelling big bad person!”
At the mention of that “annoying smell,” Xiao Lingyu immediately thought of Qing Ming. Perhaps due to instinct, Spirit-Sensing Pigs were extremely sensitive and fearful of demonic aura.
Exchanging a look with Chu Mingwei, both reached the same conclusion. After coaxing Zhu Yurong for a while, Xiao Lingyu finally relaxed. Although he did not know why Qing Ming had appeared in Yuntian Sect at night, he was certain that after Jing Zhan’s escape, Qing Ming no longer held hostility toward them, so he did not take Zhu Yurong’s words too seriously.
After a long while of being soothed, Zhu Yurong finally calmed down and fell asleep—drooling, as always.
Chu Mingwei watched him lying sprawled out with his belly exposed, snoring softly, and carefully lifted him away from Xiao Lingyu. Patting Xiao Lingyu’s shoulder, he said, “It’s too late tonight. Tomorrow night, we’ll quietly return the remaining Frost Spirit Grass to the spirit garden.”
“This… can even be done?” Xiao Lingyu looked at him in shock.
Thinking of his master’s temperament, Chu Mingwei nodded firmly.
—
At dawn the next day, before anyone had fully woken, a transmission talisman shot out from Haotian Peak and landed swiftly in Yilan Peak. Moments later, three streaks of light departed from Yilan Peak.
Wu Yunzi flew at the front with a stern face. Xiao Lingyu followed closely behind. Chu Mingwei trailed last, holding the still-sleeping Zhu Yurong in his arms.
Apparently exhausted from the night before, no matter how they tried, Zhu Yurong refused to wake up, insisting on sleeping a little longer.
Remembering the message in the transmission talisman—that the Phantom Beast Realm had sent envoys early in the morning demanding to see Zhu Yurong—Xiao Lingyu glanced at the sleeping child with worry.
He only hoped they truly intended to seek cooperation, as the Beast Emperor had said, and not still harbor any designs on Zhu Yurong.
In a few breaths, they arrived at Haotian Hall. Unexpectedly, aside from Meng Fan, no other disciples were present.
Xiao Lingyu followed behind Wu Yunzi and immediately noticed the members of the Phantom Beast Realm. His worry eased slightly.
Leading them was Bai Mi, along with familiar faces such as Zhu Xier. It seemed, just as the Beast Emperor had said, that the Phantom Beast Realm had abandoned any thought of sacrificing Zhu Yurong. Xiao Lingyu’s expression softened.
The Phantom Beast Realm members appeared more respectful than during their last encounter aboard the Cloud Vessel. After both sides exchanged greetings, Ling Xiaozi sat at the head of the hall with a smiling expression.
He had already learned of Zhu Yurong’s situation from Chu Mingwei and, though inwardly curious about the Phantom Beast Realm’s intentions, he outwardly remained warm and hospitable. The atmosphere in the hall was harmonious—until a sharp female voice suddenly broke it.
“You’re saying this child is the little pig? The little pig has already learned transformation?!”
Zhu Xier stared in disbelief, pointing at Zhu Yurong in Chu Mingwei’s arms.
At her words, all members of the Phantom Beast Realm turned to look. When they finally recognized that the drooling child was Zhu Yurong, everyone except Bai Mi changed their expressions.
Chu Mingwei also understood that Zhu Yurong’s advancement was unusually fast. Yet no matter how he examined him, there was nothing abnormal in his body, so he could only attribute it to “foolish people having foolish blessings.”
Seeing their disbelief, he nodded in confirmation.
A wave of shocked exclamations rose in the hall. Bai Mi frowned and coughed lightly, and only then did everyone realize their失态 and fall silent.
Xiao Lingyu studied Bai Mi carefully. Unlike his expectation of surprise, Bai Mi showed none. It seemed the Beast Emperor had already informed him.
But Xiao Lingyu felt something was off—Bai Mi’s mood seemed… unusual.
And soon, Bai Mi’s next words confirmed that feeling.
“Yun Ting has passed away.”
The hall fell instantly silent.
Bai Mi continued without pause. “He carried the bloodline of the ancient divine beast Bai Ze. On the day Chu Daoist and Xiao Daoist left the Phantom Beast Realm, he performed a blood sacrifice divination with his own life.”
“From the omen, the lower realm was originally destined to return to chaos soon. Heaven would be reshaped, primordial order restored, and all things would begin anew. But sixteen years ago, the heavenly secrets were obscured—something changed. And that change brought a thread of survival to this world.”
A stunned uproar broke out in the hall.
“What change?”
“What survival?”
“Why has the Beast Emperor never mentioned this?”
Xiao Lingyu said nothing. He carefully controlled his expression, pretending to be shocked. But the moment he heard “sixteen years ago,” a suspicion formed in his mind.
Sixteen years ago, he and Old Ghost had defied fate and returned to his childhood.
Could that be the “obscured heavenly secret”?
He forced down his unease and studied Bai Mi’s expression carefully. Before he could deduce anything further, Bai Mi suddenly turned and looked directly at him.
Xiao Lingyu’s heart tightened slightly, but he maintained his expression.
Bai Mi soon looked away and said calmly, “The divination did not reveal what the change was. However, Yun Ting once said before his death: this variable changed not only his own fate, but also the fate of those connected to him. Perhaps we can investigate from that angle.”
Ling Xiaozi frowned. “From your words, is this variable… a person?”
Bai Mi’s gaze drifted once more toward Xiao Lingyu. He nodded. “Yes. A variable is a person. Only a person can change their own fate. How could a dead object possibly alter destiny?”
As he spoke, Bai Mi recalled Yun Ting’s final words.
Twenty years ago, when Zhu Yurong was born, Yun Ting had once divined his fate. At that time, everything was set in stone. Yet during their last meeting, Yun Ting discovered that Zhu Yurong’s destiny had changed. But due to chaotic heavenly secrets, he could not tell whether it was good or bad.
Thinking of Yun Ting’s hesitant expression, Bai Mi’s gaze once again lingered on Xiao Lingyu.
Was this what Yun Ting had been hinting at in the end?