Qi Yu felt as if she had punched the air.
There wasn't even a sound.
With a cold expression, she pulled at the hem of her clothes, casually grabbed a set of men's attire, transformed into a male form, and then walked out with a look of disdain and unhappiness.
At this moment, Ming Lou was already waiting outside.
A malevolent spirit came to frighten him, and he chatted with the spirit. In the end, the spirit felt no sense of accomplishment. Since he couldn't act without Qi Yu's orders, he simply ignored him.
"Junior brother..." Ming Lou saw Qi Yu appear before him, and suddenly grabbed her thigh and wailed.
Qi Yu frowned tightly. After trying a few times and failing to pull her leg free, she became momentarily exasperated.
Ming Lou's eyes were teary. "Junior brother, junior brother, I've finally found you, *wu wa*..."
"When you're not here, no one talks to me anymore. They're all mean to me..."
Si Qing stood not far away, watching him with cold eyes. "Who's been mean to you? Master bought roast chicken before, and you ate it all! You ate six by yourself!"
Ming Lou couldn't help but let out a burp.
Qi Yu: "..."
She moved her leg slightly with a hint of disgust, conjured a sharp ice spike in her palm, and brought it close to Ming Lou's neck. "Let go of your hand."
Ming Lou yelped, leaned closer, pricked himself with the ice spike, and then stuck out his tongue, tilting his head as if feigning death. "I'm injured. I can't go back."
Si Qing was so disgusted he could barely watch.
Qi Yu glanced at him. "You're still looking down on him? What's there to look down on? You were just like this back then."
Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Si Qing rubbed his nose, bent down, hoisted the feigning-death Ming Lou onto his shoulder, and was about to turn back to drag him.
The barrier of Buzhou Mountain suddenly emitted a warning hum.
A group of disciples from the Hehuan Sect entered on their swords.
Ming Lou immediately scrambled to his feet, his expression wary.
Qi Luo, the chief disciple of the Hehuan Sect, who was leading them, slowly descended before Qi Yu. Pointing her silver sword at Qi Yu, her face was filled with anger.
"Ice Demon, many of our disciples from the Hehuan Sect have disappeared recently. Did you do this? Either hand over our disciples from the Hehuan Sect today, or pay with your life!"
As soon as she finished speaking, the disciples of the Hehuan Sect behind her immediately drew their swords.
Ming Lou and Si Qing, who were behind, slowly stepped forward.
Upon seeing this, Qi Luo, the chief disciple of the Hehuan Sect, first showed a look of astonishment, and then her tone became angry. "Ice Demon, I didn't expect you to have also kidnapped disciples from the Beiyuan Sect!"
"Which of your eyes saw me kidnapping them?" Qi Yu met Qi Luo's gaze. "As for your disciples from the Hehuan Sect, I haven't seen them either..."
As she spoke, a chilling frost began to spread from beneath Qi Yu's feet, slowly approaching Qi Luo and the other disciples of the Hehuan Sect, encircling them.
Ming Lou rolled up his sleeves, looking displeased. Out of habit, he wanted to protect Qi Yu and retort to the disciples of the Hehuan Sect. However, before he could speak, Qi Yu separated him and Si Qing with a wall of ice.
A female disciple of the Hehuan Sect couldn't help but whisper to Qi Luo, "Senior Sister, we don't actually have any proof that the Ice Demon did it. Didn't we agree to just come and ask? It's not good to convict her so rashly now, is it?"
It wasn't really about whether it was good or bad, but rather that the female disciple was scared seeing how Qi Yu, just by being in a bad mood and saying a few words, could cause the surrounding area to freeze.
Qi Luo glanced back at her, coldly reprimanded her as a coward, and then drew her sword and charged directly at Qi Yu!
Si Qing and Ming Lou, blocked behind the ice wall, were both startled.
But in the next moment, they watched as Qi Yu didn't even move. With just two fingers, she caught Qi Luo's attacking long sword.
Qi Luo tugged hard, but the sword remained motionless in Qi Yu's hand.
"Are you done attacking?" Qi Yu looked up. "Should it be my turn now?"
Saying that, Qi Yu began to condense ice shards in her hand. The sword's edge was gradually covered and swallowed by ice. Qi Luo finally became scared and turned to flee, intending to abandon her sword.
But as soon as she took a step, her ankle was firmly frozen by ice.
All of Qi Luo's spiritual energy and cultivation were absorbed into Qi Yu's body at a visible speed.
"No, don't!" Qi Luo felt her Nascent Soul being dismembered and her spiritual energy completely drained, a powerlessness that filled her with terror as she let out a plea.
All the disciples of the Hehuan Sect behind her, without exception, had their spiritual energy and cultivation absorbed by Qi Yu using the same method.
Feeling the surge of power, Qi Yu sat in mid-air, a smile curling her lips.
Ming Lou stood behind the ice wall, watching as the disciples of the Hehuan Sect were one by one drained of their cultivation and reduced to mortals. His brow furrowed gradually.
Seeing that all the disciples of the Hehuan Sect below had fainted, Qi Yu waved her hand and threw them out of Buzhou Mountain. Then she turned back, removed the ice wall, and said to Si Qing and Ming Lou:
"Do you see?"
"I am no longer the Qi Yu you knew. I am now a malevolent spirit from hell, an evil path, a demon."
"So, don't follow me anymore."
After speaking, Qi Yu left them behind and turned to leave.
Ming Lou stood in place, silent for a long time, before saying, "It doesn't matter if our paths are different. No matter what you've done, you're still my junior brother."
"If you think this is wrong, then I'll descend into demonhood with you. How about that?"
Qi Yu's footsteps paused, and she left without looking back.
Midnight.
Qi Yu slowly walked out of Buzhou Mountain again.
She stood at a high vantage point, looking at the unconscious female disciples of the Hehuan Sect. After a moment of silence, she returned all their cultivation.
Then she vanished into the night.
Inner Hall.
This place resembled a cave, covered in ice, and eerily silent.
After returning her cultivation, Qi Yu curled up alone in a corner, hugging her knees. Her pair of crimson eyes were dim and lifeless, and she didn't know what she was thinking.
"Brother..." Si Qing appeared behind her at some unknown time, holding a blanket and draping it over Qi Yu.
Qi Yu glanced at him but said nothing.
Si Qing hugged her tightly through the blanket. "What deal did you make with the Heavenly Emperor? Where have you been all these years?"
Qi Yu opened her mouth but didn't answer. Instead, she asked, "What about you? Why did you guys..."
She wanted to ask why they remembered her, instead of mistaking everything about her for Ling Ruo.
But the words at the tip of her tongue, the last few characters, just couldn't be spoken.
Si Qing suddenly held her face and looked at her. "What do you want to ask? You were about to ask why we still remember you, and not mistake you for Ling Ruo, right?"
"To be honest, we don't know why either, but that's not the point. The point is, how could you be so cruel, sister!"
"You are unique. No one can replace you in our hearts. Nothing can be more important than you!"
Qi Yu leaned back and remained silent.
Si Qing seemed to be losing strength. "Sister, did you miss us these past few years?"
Qi Yu wanted to say no.
But the words wouldn't come out.
Because Si Qing had already covered her mouth preemptively, his tone fierce. "Don't lie to yourself. Don't say you didn't miss us. If you truly didn't, why would you have become like this! You clearly missed us very much!"
Qi Yu closed her eyes.
She felt as if with every word Si Qing spoke, her heart ached a little more due to the restraint of the ice.
But she was also reluctant to leave this warmth.
"If you don't want to talk about what happened in the past few hundred years, then don't," Si Qing lowered his gaze. "I'm not insisting on hearing the answer. I just want to beg you, don't resist us getting close to you."
"Just like you'd rather become this way, we also want to get close to you, even if we get frostbite, it doesn't matter."
Qi Yu remained silent throughout.
But she no longer resisted Si Qing's closeness.
She even unconsciously fell asleep due to this warmth she hadn't felt in years.
Si Qing looked at the sleeping Qi Yu with heartache, picked her up, and then called out to Ming Lou outside. "Senior brother, go send a message to Master and Mistress."
The next day.
When Qi Yu woke up and walked out of the inner chamber, she found that Buzhou Mountain was extremely lively today.
Si Qing and Ming Lou must have moved the entire Beiyuan Sect here.
The previously empty hall was now filled with many furnishings, and it seemed to have been magically beautified.
Mother Yu Zhen was holding a dirty malevolent spirit, sternly ordering it to take a bath.
Li Yu was cleaning and laying carpets on the floor. He turned back and looked at Yu Zhen with disdain.
"Why are you so idle? Why do you care if someone takes a bath or not? You even manage whether ghosts take baths or not."
Yu Zhen gave Li Yu a look that said, 'You know nothing.' "Oh, these new carpets have just been laid. If they don't take baths and float around the house, they'll make everything dirty."
As she spoke, she flapped a feather duster everywhere.
She looked back and saw Qi Yu staring blankly in their direction. A smile immediately spread across her face. She walked over with a basin, wrung out a cloth, and like caring for a baby, bent down to wipe Qi Yu's face.
"You're awake. Are you hungry? Mother made pumpkin porridge and added sugar for you."
Li Yu walked over with water and toothpaste, letting Qi Yu wash up. He also remarked:
"Honestly, your mother's cooking is really good. Look at the color of that thing. I thought it would be undrinkable, but I didn't expect that although the appearance is not good, the taste is top-notch. You must try it quickly."
Yue Zhiyin and Qi Nian were arranging cabinets nearby, occasionally arguing about the placement angle of the porcelain items on the cabinets.
Sui You squatted nearby, burning a piece of ice with the fire in his hand. Upon discovering that it wouldn't melt no matter how much he burned it, he immediately became interested and started chiseling it with a small pick, intending to carve a piece to cool himself with in the summer.
Qi Yan carried Ming Lou on his back, while Ming Lou held a net and was catching dirty ghosts who hadn't taken a bath.
Chi Ming placed basins nearby, supervising the dirty ghosts to wash themselves.
"I let them in," Si Qing leaned beside her, poking Qi Yu's thigh. "Brother, now that the Beiyuan Sect has so many people captured by you, do you want to keep us? It's up to you."
Qi Yu pursed her lips and answered a question with a question:
"I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm not what you used to see anymore. I take people's lives, enjoy killing, and even arbitrarily plunder others' cultivation."
"If you expect to pull me back to the world of the past, that's impossible. Do you still insist on staying with me?"
Qi Yu's heart erected countless cold walls, imprisoning herself, pushing away those who approached her again and again, all for the sake of the oath made with the Heavenly Emperor.
However...
"The past or the present, if you think we only value the past you, and can't tolerate even the slightest change in you, then you're wrong," Ming Lou looked at Qi Yu. "I'm not afraid, and I don't think there's anything wrong with you now. No matter what you become, you're still you in my heart."
"Yes, if you've changed, so what?" Sui You didn't care either. "What's the big deal about cultivating the immortal path or being a demonic being? If we distanced ourselves from you just because of this, that would be too superficial."
Chi Ming and Qi Yan nodded.
Si Qing raised his chin. He had seen through his sister Qi Yu. If he didn't actively approach her like this, she would pity herself and confine herself to this place for a lifetime, only daring to secretly watch them reunite with Ling Ruo, that imposter.
Why should his sister live like this?
If the Heavenly Dao wanted them to acknowledge Ling Ruo, then let them acknowledge her.
It was just a rotten shell, an empty reputation.
After all, they wouldn't stay by her side.
"Besides, Ice Demon Junior Brother, what we want is not the past, but the present. In life, one must always look forward," Qi Nian said, hands on his hips, looking at Qi Yu. After speaking, he continued his battle over the placement of the vases. "Let's not talk about that, Ice Demon Junior Brother, you settle this. Where should this be placed? I say this vase should be in the middle, but Senior Brother insists on putting it at the top, just to show off his height."
"What do you mean, 'to show off my height'? It looks best at the top. Otherwise, if the bottom is filled with small vases, and a large one is placed in the middle, wouldn't that be strange?" Yue Zhiyin snatched the vase from Qi Nian's hand.
Qi Nian angrily snatched the vase back.
Qi Yu blinked, raised her hand, and conjured a second identical vase.
So, Yue Zhiyin placed one at the top.
Qi Nian placed one at the bottom.
Both were satisfied.
"Here, drink it while it's hot," Yu Zhen handed the hot porridge to Qi Yu. "It smells really sweet. Don't mind the appearance, the taste is really super good."
Looking at the hot pumpkin porridge presented to her, Qi Yu numbly picked up the spoon and took a sip.
A sweet taste exploded in her mouth.
Everyone secretly watched her. Seeing that she drank it, they withdrew their gazes and continued chattering.
Buzhou Mountain, which had been lifeless, once again returned to the lively atmosphere it had when it was the Beiyuan Sect.
Qi Yu lowered her head, drinking the porridge, and her nose suddenly felt sore.