Zhuge Ji was pushed off the cliff by Yan Shouyi. The drop of more than ten meters scared him so much that his testicles retracted, and he closed his eyes in fear.
But the moment before closing his eyes, he saw Tian Jue'er open her arms to catch him.
The words of his sister, Zhuge Lian, suddenly flashed in his mind. He finally decided to be brave, starting with embracing Tian Jue'er!
So Zhuge Ji also opened his arms, watching Tian Jue'er getting closer and closer...
Suddenly, a nun in black robes appeared before Tian Jue'er. The nun spread her arms and shouted, "I'll help you!"
The nun was plump, her face full of wrinkles, and she had a huge black mole on her nose. From Zhuge Ji's perspective, she looked like an Asura reborn!
"No... no!"
Every cell in Zhuge Ji's body resisted, but he was in mid-air and couldn't turn. He could only watch himself slowly fall into the nun's embrace.
The nun caught Zhuge Ji steadily. Zhuge Ji was so angry that he couldn't catch his breath and fainted.
"Little benefactor, what's wrong? Little benefactor, are you alright?" the nun asked, shaking Zhuge Ji's body with concern.
Beside them, Tian Jue'er had already caught Long Feicheng, Ye Tianyuan, who were successively pushed down, and the fainted brown-haired monkey Lele.
Finally, Yan Shouyi leaped down.
Suddenly, a shadow puppet flew out from behind him. Yan Shouyi forcibly turned in the air and split the shadow puppet in half.
He saw a group of black-robed figures appear on the cliff. From their aura, they were the shadow puppet opera descendants who had not shown themselves.
"As expected, there's more than one..." Yan Shouyi thought.
It was a pity that they appeared too late. Otherwise, he would have killed them along with the蠱 (gǔ) masters!
The shadow puppet opera descendants were surrounded by the love silk蛊, but they were fearless, clearly having made preparations.
The leader said coldly, "Yan Shouyi, stay in the Flying Palace. We'll meet again in three months!"
With that, the person turned and left with a flick of his sleeve, without any hesitation.
Three months?
Yan Shouyi frowned, not understanding the meaning of the person's words. Before he could think further, his body had already fallen onto the roof of the Flying Palace.
Upon reaching the Flying Palace, everyone was temporarily safe. Yan Shouyi didn't dwell on the words of the shadow puppet opera descendants before they left. Instead, he first checked on everyone's condition:
"Is everyone alright?"
"We're all fine, except for Little Ji Ji!" Long Feicheng said. "He fainted for some reason."
"Let me see."
Yan Shouyi felt Zhuge Ji's pulse and then said, "He's fine. He might have fainted from fright. He'll wake up in a while."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
The Flying Palace descended rapidly and soon became hidden in the sea of clouds. Outside the Flying Palace, all that could be seen was a vast expanse of white.
It was only then that Yan Shouyi realized why Qi Dongqiang couldn't find the Flying Palace. It was because the Flying Palace was always hidden in the clouds. The eyes could not see clearly, and no one would have thought that Mount Emei would have a grand hall hidden in the clouds.
This Lu Ban descendant who designed the Flying Palace was truly a predecessor with an open mind and admirable!
Supporting each other, everyone returned to the hall from the roof. All of them finally relaxed at this moment.
Long Feicheng even sat down on the ground and asked Yan Nanfei casually, "I'm exhausted. Do you have any water? Give me a sip!"
Yan Nanfei quickly went to get water.
Although the Flying Palace was suspended in mid-air, as the emergency shelter of the Emei Sect, it had reserves to meet everyone's basic needs. Moreover, most of the Emei Sect disciples had already died tragically in the mountains. Now, only a small portion of the disciples were in the Flying Palace.
"Junior Sister."
At this moment, Wen Yuxian suddenly called out to Master Guan Yun. The sisters exchanged glances. Master Guan Yun, who had been appearing strong, took a deep breath and suddenly broke down.
The aged Master Guan Yun threw herself into Wen Yuxian's embrace and wailed, losing all semblance of her sect leader's dignity.
"Senior Sister, it was my fault for not protecting the disciples. I have failed Master's trust and the disciples of the Emei Sect!"
Master Guan Yun had witnessed the plight of the Emei Sect disciples with her own eyes and felt it in her heart.
As the sect leader, she should have protected her disciples' safety. However, the incident happened so suddenly that everyone lost their ability to resist. Even Master Guan Yun could only order everyone to flee into the Flying Palace to temporarily avoid the danger.
As for the disciples who did not manage to escape into the Flying Palace, their fate was predictable.
For the past few days, Master Guan Yun had been reciting Buddhist scriptures every day, partly to help the souls of those disciples and partly to strengthen herself.
She had always appeared calm in front of her disciples because she didn't want to spread panic.
But when she saw her senior sister, she seemed to see her only support, and her psychological defenses instantly collapsed.
Wen Yuxian held Master Guan Yun and gently comforted her, "After experiencing such an ordeal, it's already very difficult for you to bring a portion of the disciples to safety."
Seeing Wen Yuxian comforting Master Guan Yun, Yan Shouyi suddenly remembered that one of his purposes for this trip seemed to be to have Master Guan Yun comfort his grandmother.
But now, it seemed that the sisters needed to comfort each other.
Master Guan Yun cried for a while before she finally recovered. She realized her loss of composure and quickly wiped away her tears, adjusting her emotions.
Finally, she returned to her usual demeanor and calmly asked Yan Shouyi:
"Shouyi, what happened outside? Who were the people chasing you?"
Yan Shouyi sighed and recounted his experiences along the way.
Among them, he focused on the cause and effect involving Qi Dongqiang.
After hearing this, Master Guan Yun and the others looked grim and silently clasped their hands together, chanting Buddhist names.
Most of them felt guilty towards Cai Yun.
But who would have thought that Qi Dongqiang, who appeared harmless on the surface, would have such a dark heart and ultimately commit the act of annihilation?
"The entire incident was likely orchestrated by the Twelve Earthly Branches. Earlier, from above, I killed the 'Wei' Earthly Branch 蛊 master. There is one shadow puppet opera descendant left, but he doesn't seem to intend to pursue us further, saying something like... see you again in three months. Aunt, do you know what this means?"
"Three months... Did he really say that?" Master Guan Yun's face showed shock.
Yan Shouyi felt a premonition that something was amiss. "What is it?"
Master Guan Yun became agitated. She paced back and forth, saying somewhat exasperatedly:
"How do they even know about the Emei Lotus Formation? Damn it... the annihilation was indeed not an impulsive act by Qi Dongqiang. This is clearly a long-planned conspiracy by the Twelve Earthly Branches!!"