130 The problem with possession (2/2)

A dainty peach-shaped face looked back at them both, wide eyes and a little pointed nose. Her features were that of a goddess, beauty ethereal and divine.

Yuan Xuelan was shocked and frozen. Not because the butterfly mask man had been revealed to be a woman, but he recognized her face!

It was the face of Bai Qiaoyin! The corrupted corpse they met at Zu Village! How could it be her? Perhaps an illusion, a mistake in memory or a look alike.

Liu Sumeng was also chilled to the bone, catching the whiff of fresh mints and citrus. Something did not feel right.

The woman fell to the ground, her gray eyes expressionless in death as they were in life. She had no answers to offer their questions, now dead. But perhaps she had never been alive in the first place.

Even if they couldn't gain any definite answers, at least she was dead now. Without the puppeteer, the Fallen Gods would halt their advance on the city and could be killed more efficiently, one by one.

Liu Sumeng let out a long sigh of relief, swaying on his feet as dizziness and fatigue overtook him.

”Sumeng!” Yuan Xuelan called out as he rushed forward to catch the Ivory Sword Saint before a fall.

A steady hand helped him stand up straight, and Liu Sumeng took in a deep breath, failing to restrain the desire to lean into Yuan Xuelan's shoulder and neck.

Yuan Xuelan tensed a little. A pleasant feeling fluttered in his chest mixing with concern, ”Are you okay? Hurt anywhere?”

”Nothing serious,” Liu Sumeng sighed, taking an extra moment of rest leaning against the young man behind him. Yuan Xuelan had grown to be so reliable, he thought warmly.

In the distance was still the sound of battle and he wondered if they were finishing off the Fallen God troops.

”Here, let me help you.” Yuan Xuelan took Liu Sumeng's hand into his. Fire erupted around his hand. There was an unbearable warmth and flooded into Liu Sumeng's wounds, making his body feel soft. It threatened to lull him to sleep. The wounds began to close and heal.

A chuckle left his lips and finally pushed himself away from this cute Yuan Xuelan. ”Thank you. But I'm quite alright. Let's not waste your strengths yet. We will return first.”

Yuan Xuelan blinked and licked his lips. There was a bit of disappointment among the excitement that swirled in his heart. He wanted to hold Sumeng a little longer if he were honest. Still, he understood the situation.

”Okay.” He nodded obediently.

Satisfied, Liu Sumeng tapped into the communication spell to alert the others of the developments.

Only…there was silence.

His brows knit.

Again, he tried.

Nothing.

And the spell wholly shattered.

”What's wrong?” Yuan Xuelan perked at the concern that appeared suddenly in the Ivory Sword Saint's face.

”The communication spell is gone.”

”What?” Alarmed, he tried tapping into it as well and found that the string that once connected them all was indeed nonexistent.

Did something go wrong? A mistake perhaps? But it was better to be safe than sorry. ”We should hurry.” Liu Sumeng said.

”Yeah.”

The two rushed back in the direction of the city. But they weren't able to make it all the way back to the manor.

…

Inside the Ascending Dawn Manor, everything had been going smoothly until Chen Anyue reached up and plucked the needle out her neck. She fell like a puppet with strings cut, eyes rolling back into her head.

”Young Miss!” A few servants rushed to her side to check her vitals and sighed with relief when she saw she was alright. ”Poor thing collapsed from exhaustion. We should take her to her room.”

But another female cultivator shrilled in shock. Those that stood in the array that formed the spell were all blinking from confusion.

”What happened?”

”Why did it suddenly break?”

Smoke began to rise from the middle of the array, filling up the room and their lungs. The cultivators and servants coughed as they struggled to figure out what was going on and dismantle the array for good.

”Someone do something!”

”Can't you see I'm trying?”

One of the Elders performed a set of hand seals, dispersing both the smoke and the array. But by then it was already too late, most of the others who were there in the room had all fallen to their ground, groaning just on the brink of consciousness.

Cursing, she tried to get her bearings and pick herself up, but didn't expect a sharp blow to her nape, which robbed her consciousness for good. She fell with a thud.