Though his words carried a mocking tone, his head turned slightly, preventing me from seeing his expression.
Not that I cared what he looked like at that moment. I kicked the demon at our feet and frowned. “When I placed the contract, no one mentioned your organization would use demons. What’s going on here?”
As a cultivator, I adhered to the rules of my path. Even when hiring an assassin, I avoided involving demons. The organization I worked with was supposedly led by a sect and had never hinted at such dealings.
But before the demon could answer, it bit down on something in its mouth. A moment later, blood trickled from its orifices as it slumped lifelessly to the ground.
I looked around. Every demon—whether standing or lying—had followed suit, biting poison to end their own lives.
The secrecy was… astonishingly tight. This wasn’t the behavior of an ordinary assassination organization.
I turned to Xiao Yi Han and saw him frowning slightly. He glanced at me and said, “It seems we really need to hurry to Jade Spring.”
Without further delay, we resumed our journey. We soared through the air on our swords, but no matter how fast I pushed myself, I couldn’t quite match his speed. Xiao Yi Han shot me a look, then suddenly reached out and pulled me onto his sword.
I pushed against him, but he said with an infuriatingly serious expression, “This way is faster.”
He was right—it was faster.
I gritted my teeth and silently reminded myself, over and over, of the importance of protecting the mortal realm. Only that mantra stopped me from shoving him off.
But standing so close, our bodies pressed together as we flew in silence, with only the clouds around us, the tension became unbearable. I broke it by saying, “That assassination group—I only hired them once. When they failed the first time, I canceled the contract and left the mountain myself. I have no idea why they attacked again. Maybe you should reflect on your recent behavior.”
“I know why they came,” Xiao Yi Han replied with certainty.
I turned to him. “What exactly have you been doing in the mortal world since leaving the sect?”
He stayed silent, and just as I thought he wouldn’t answer, he finally said, “I’m going to the demon realm to find my family.”
His response caught me completely off guard. I had no idea Xiao Yi Han had family, let alone in the demon realm. None of the elders at Xian Ling Sect had ever mentioned it… but then again, they were always deliberately tight-lipped about him.
“Who is your family? Why are they in the demon realm?”
Xiao Yi Han paused, clearly reluctant to answer, and instead addressed my earlier comment. “The assassination group you hired has deep ties to the demon realm. Though the seal between the human and demon worlds was established a century ago, remnants of the demon race still roam the mortal world. They hide their identities, waiting for opportunities to breach the seal and return to power.
“The assassins you initially hired were rogue cultivators. When they failed to kill me, I captured one of them. Under interrogation, I learned that the organization had been secretly aiding the demon remnants. They’ve been searching for weak points in the seal. Using the information I obtained, I preemptively breached a weak point before they could act. However, the seal’s power was stronger than expected, and I lost control, causing the demonic energy to leak.”
Xiao Yi Han glanced at me with a wry smile. “Fortunately, you showed up just in time, my clever little disciple.”
So… my inadvertent actions had helped him locate the seal’s weak point?
“They probably detected the demonic energy spill earlier today,” Xiao Yi Han added, “which is why they came after us tonight.”
I lowered my gaze to our intertwined hands. “Once we submerge the seal into the Jade Spring, what then? Are you going straight to the demon realm?”
He didn’t answer.
The rest of the journey passed in silence. Xiao Yi Han’s flying speed was astonishing, and by midnight we reached Jade Spring, much earlier than I had anticipated.
Together, we submerged our linked hands into the spring. Xiao Yi Han closed his eyes and chanted softly. The force binding our palms began to dissipate as the black energy seeped into the water. Instead of spreading, the energy coalesced at the spring’s bottom, forming the same murky black void I had seen before. Yet the spring water above remained crystal clear.
Just as Xiao Yi Han had said, the spring’s purifying power suppressed the demonic energy.
Our hands finally separated. As Xiao Yi Han pulled his hand away, icy spring water rushed into my palm, chilling me to the bone.
He looked at me, a faint smile playing on his lips. “There, little disciple. You’re free to go now.”
I said nothing, drawing my sword with a cold, clear ring. “I’ll leave after I’ve killed you,” I said. “In all my years at Xian Ling Mountain, I never once heard of you having family. You’re lying to deceive me. The seal is here, and I won’t allow anyone to use it to cross into the demon realm.”
Who could say what Xiao Yi Han’s true intentions were? His unpredictable, self-serving nature made trusting him impossible.
But instead of bristling at my words, Xiao Yi Han laughed. He stepped forward until his chest pressed against the tip of my sword. “Little disciple,” he said with a maddening calm, “I’m telling you—you won’t kill me. Do you believe me?”
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