Witnessing the scene of Cangshu Bai fighting the people of Zhenyue Mountain City with her own eyes, Mu Ran finally understood that he had been hiding his identity as a cultivator all along. She could also tell that Cangshu Bai's strength was outstanding among the younger generation.
She knew how difficult cultivation was. For Cangshu Bai to reach the Dongxu Realm, he must have paid an unimaginable price.
Therefore, he could not be allowed to perish here.
Mu Ran also knew that the powerhouses overseeing Zhenyue Mountain City from behind the scenes would step forward sooner or later.
With her as a burden, Cangshu Bai's chances of survival were slim.
So, after desperately wiping her eyes with her hands, Mu Ran shed no more tears. Instead, she said with unquestionable resolve, "Cangshu Bai, you need to leave here alone."
Cangshu Bai gripped her hand tightly. Suddenly reversing their positions, he pressed her against the stone wall. Leaning in close against her, his breath—both scalding hot and bitingly cold—brushed against the reddened corners of her eyes. He spoke word by word, his voice as heavy and cold as tempered ice.
"If I leave and abandon you here alone, what do you take me for?"
His palm clasped her wrist with a force too strong to break free from, yet paradoxically gentle enough not to hurt her in the slightest.
The freezing stone wall only made his body heat feel all the more scorching. Lowering his gaze to stare at her reddened eyes, a low, hoarse chuckle rolled from his throat, carrying an almost obsessive earnestness.
"Mu Ran, from the very beginning, the thought of leaving you behind has never once crossed my mind."
He lowered his head slightly, resting his forehead against hers. His voice was so soft that only the two of them could hear it, yet it struck heavily into the depths of her heart.
"If we leave, we leave together. If we die, we die together. Don't even think about making decisions for me on your own."
Pinned against the cold, rough stone wall by him, Mu Ran could hear her own violent heartbeat. The calmness she had just forced herself to feign shattered completely under his gaze.
She turned her head away, refusing to look at him. "It's too dangerous here. I can't—"
Before she could finish, her chin was gently pinched by his slightly cool fingertips and forced back to face him.
Dark waves she had never seen before surged in the depths of his eyes—resentful, angry, and tinged with a trace of fear.
"Can't what?" Cangshu Bai pressed in a low voice, his breath brushing against her lips. "Can't drag me down? Or do you think that I, Cangshu Bai, am the kind of man who would abandon his wife to flee for his own life?"
The warmth of his palm seeped through her clothes into her skin, so hot that it made her tremble.
"I didn't mean that..."
"Then what did you mean?" He didn't let up. His fingertips pressed slightly harder, though he still couldn't bear to hurt her. "You know perfectly well how important you are to me."
Mu Ran's eyes grew hot, tears threatening to fall once more.
"Don't cry." His tone was hard and cold, yet his voice grew increasingly gentle as he lowered it. "Unless I die, no one will hurt you."
He slowly loosened his grip a little but did not let her go. Instead, he pulled her into his embrace, his arm wrapping steadily around her waist to protect her against his chest.
Mu Ran heard his heartbeat, steady and powerful, but she also smelled the metallic scent of blood from his wounds.
Her heart felt as if it had been viciously seized. Her fingertips uncontrollably clenched his bloodstained clothes, touching a patch of sticky, damp coldness.
Han Yu seemed to sense the heavy and uneasy atmosphere of the moment as well. It lowered its head, stopped wagging its tail, and blinked its eyes softly, looking rather sickly and listless.
Suddenly, Han Yu looked warily toward the cave entrance.
A red paper crane flew in, followed by the figure of a woman.
Just as an extreme, biting chill closed in on the woman's face, Mu Ran suddenly called out, "Jinzhi, stop!"
The cold gleam halted a mere inch from the woman's brow, yet the chill still pierced through her skin and spread to her heart, causing her entire body to tense up, not even daring to breathe heavily.
Mu Ran said, "This is my aunt. She's not a bad person."
Cangshu Bai had seen Mu Shuqing in the spiritual memories at Biyun Mountain. Although she held a noble status there, she was someone who remained detached from Biyun Mountain's affairs, and she had never bullied Mu Ran.
Cangshu Bai glanced at Han Yu.
Han Yu withdrew its dangerous aura and backed away.
Regaining her composure, Mu Shuqing observed the situation before her and said with near certainty, "The turmoil in Zhenyue Mountain City is your doing."
Mu Ran supported Cangshu Bai as they stood up.
Cangshu Bai replied calmly, "Yes."
During the two days he had been lurking in Zhenyue Mountain City, he had been gathering information about Mu Ran while secretly laying down restrictive seals everywhere for contingencies.
Not long ago, the major peaks within Zhenyue Mountain City had inexplicably exploded and collapsed, throwing everything into chaos. This was all his backup plan.
Mu Shuqing's expression changed slightly, her fingertips trembling. "Are you crazy? Such massive actions will affect Zhenyue Mountain City's ley lines, thereby impacting the destiny of the entire mountain city. They won't let you off, and neither will Zhenyue Mountain City's allies."
Cangshu Bai said dismissively, "So what?"
Mu Shuqing was left speechless.
She looked at Mu Ran again, then at Cangshu Bai, still finding it hard to believe that someone in this world could go to such lengths for another person.
Cangshu Bai's actions were practically tantamount to self-immolation.
Mu Shuqing took a moment to calm her emotions. Then, she said to Mu Ran, "I have a feeling that something has happened to Biyun Mountain."
Cangshu Bai instinctively tightened his grip on Mu Ran's hand.
He had always been unwilling to let Mu Ran witness his cruel and bloodthirsty side. At that time, he was truly terrified of losing her, and as a result, he couldn't control his urge to kill.
Whenever he thought of what Mu Feilin had done, he could no longer think rationally. In terms of blood relations, Mu Feilin was Mu Ran's uncle.
After a brief silence, Mu Ran said slowly, "I ceased to be a person of Biyun Mountain two years ago. Whether Biyun Mountain is destroyed or not, I don't care."
Cangshu Bai's tense hand slowly relaxed.
Why would Mu Ran appear in Zhenyue Mountain City?
And why would Cangshu Bai fight his way in to save her?
In a short span of time, Mu Shuqing was able to guess a great deal.
The cultivation world was just this cruel. For the sake of cultivation, everyone would more or less participate in slaughter and plundering. Today you might treat others as meat on a chopping block, but tomorrow you yourself might be seen as the prey on someone else's board.
After a long while, Mu Shuqing said, "You won't be able to escape like this."
If either Cangshu Taotian or Cangshu Linfeng were to make a move, it would bring them absolute annihilation.
After another moment, Mu Shuqing continued, "Right now, the person Zhenyue Mountain City is frantically hunting down is not Mu Ran. She doesn't stand out. I can find a way to help her evade those people and escort her out of the mountain gates. But I need someone to coordinate with me, and this person must create an even bigger disturbance to attract all their attention."
She directed these words at Cangshu Bai.
Cangshu Bai said without hesitation, "I can do that."
Mu Ran, however, said resolutely, "No!"
