Xiao Li remembered that he seemed to have been ambushed. Then a group of people had tried to capture him, and then…
It seemed the Sect Master of Luoxian Sect had arrived.
The moment he tried to recall what had happened, his head began to ache.
He frowned, and Yuan Shu pressed a finger to the space between his brows before he could do so any further.
“What are you thinking about that’s causing you so much pain? Keep frowning like that and you’ll get wrinkles.”
She gave a light laugh. Seeing that she had successfully drawn his attention, she explained, “The Sect Master of Luoxian Sect asked me to save you. He’s waiting outside for you to wake up.”
Yuan Shu removed the hand she had been pressing against his chest and carefully straightened his clothes before looking at him. Her expression turned serious.
“Xiao Li, there isn’t much time. I’ll keep this brief. Has something happened to you?”
The warmth against his chest disappeared, and a fleeting trace of disappointment passed through Xiao Li’s eyes. But only for an instant. His expression immediately turned solemn.
“Miss Yuan, what do you mean?”
“Your fortuitous encounter. The thing you kept in the clay jar. Why is Qu Qing looking for you?” Yuan Shu asked directly, without beating around the bush.
She had originally felt that this was Xiao Li’s private business and that she had no right to pry.
But things had reached this point. She suspected there were still secrets surrounding Xiao Li—secrets that might prove crucial.
She had to get to the bottom of them.
Xiao Li’s eyes widened slightly, apparently surprised that Yuan Shu had suddenly asked those questions.
Yet there was no panic or fear in his eyes.
Because the person asking was Yuan Shu.
Even if these were his secrets, he could tell her.
After pondering for a moment and organizing his thoughts, Xiao Li spoke slowly.
“Several months ago, I rescued a dying divine beast in a cave in the rear mountain. Its name was Bai Ze.”
“Bai Ze was incredibly powerful. It acknowledged me as its master and gave me its treasure, the Ze Spirit. It cleansed the impurities from my body and increased my strength. It also greatly enhanced my innate affinity with spirit beasts.”
“The thing in the clay jar is Bai Ze’s power. I call it dark power.”
“It’s different from spiritual energy. But with the use of certain secret arts, spirit beasts can be fed this power and controlled. That’s how I was able to become a beast-taming master in the Beast-Taming Garden in such a short time.”
“As for why Sect Master Qu Qing is looking for me…” Xiao Li slowly shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“But I suspect it has something to do with Bai Ze’s Ze Spirit. Before this, a group of masked men in black robes also came looking for me. They used the same dark power.”
The dark power Xiao Li mentioned was most likely demonic fiend energy.
Yuan Shu raised an eyebrow, and a person immediately surfaced in her mind.
Within the entire Luoxian Sect, aside from Helan Ying, the only other person who could use demonic fiend energy was probably Mo Yi.
But why was he looking for Xiao Li?
“Right, it’s this.”
Xiao Li raised his hand. Wisps of white spiritual energy gathered in his palm, eventually forming a pearl about the size of his palm. It glowed with a lustrous white light.
Yuan Shu took the Ze Spirit from his hand. The instant she touched it, the Hehuan Divine Tree cried out in surprise within her mind.
“A divine beast core!”
Yuan Shu raised an eyebrow. “You’re saying this is a divine beast core?”
“There’s no doubt about it! Shu Shu, this is absolutely a divine beast core. And judging by its smooth, lustrous surface and full vitality, it has been nurtured extremely well! It’s probably the divine beast core of that Bai Ze!”
“A divine beast core contains the lifelong cultivation of a divine beast. It’s incredibly precious—something that can only be encountered by chance!”
“Xiao Li really has something special about him. He actually managed to get a divine beast to give him something so important!”
The Hehuan Divine Tree sounded astonished. As it spoke, its gaze kept drifting toward Xiao Li.
After a moment’s thought, Yuan Shu explained the origin of the divine beast core to Xiao Li.
“So that’s what it is.” Xiao Li nodded, but there was no surprise on his face.
“You already knew?” Yuan Shu turned to look at him.
Xiao Li shook his head and explained, “I only suspected it.”
“This Ze Spirit pearl is brimming with spiritual energy. It’s clearly no ordinary treasure, and the only thing a divine beast could condense that would be this extraordinary is probably its divine beast core.”
That was precisely why he had suspected that the group of masked men in black robes and Qu Qing had come for Bai Ze’s Ze Spirit.
Aside from that, he couldn’t think of anything else on him that would be worth anyone’s attention.
But at that moment, Yuan Shu remembered something.
Helan Zhao had once told her that his elder brother, Helan Ying, had once possessed a contracted divine beast named Bai Ze.
If there weren’t so many coincidences in the world, then this Bai Ze—the one that had acknowledged Xiao Li as its master—was probably the same one.
A divine beast had once possessed a life-bound contract master, yet had acknowledged someone else as its master afterward?
That sounded inconceivable.
After all, with a life-bound contract, the contract master’s soul was connected to the divine beast’s core, creating a bond in which they shared life and death.
But if that really was the case…
With Bai Ze’s core in his possession, wouldn’t Xiao Li be able to indirectly influence Bai Ze’s original contract master, Helan Ying?
And Helan Ying was one of the nodes of the Three-Eyed Spirit-Concealing Formation.
A faint shift passed through Yuan Shu’s eyes, and her gaze slowly settled on the Xiao Li before her.
“Miss… Miss Yuan?”
Under her deep, unreadable stare, Xiao Li began to feel uneasy. An awkward smile appeared on his face.
“Xiao Li, I’m afraid someone is trying to use you as a means of controlling another person.” After thinking it over, Yuan Shu decided to tell him her theory.
“You mean those people captured me so they could use Bai Ze’s Ze Spirit to control someone?”
Realization dawned on Xiao Li’s face. He was somewhat surprised, yet the explanation made perfect sense.
If that was the case, everything fell into place.
Those people had attacked him, but had only used the dark power against him. The dark energy had surged into his body, all of it heading toward his heart.
At the time, Bai Ze’s Ze Spirit had already been fused into the area around his heart.
Their objective had been unmistakable.
“Those people won’t stop until they get what they want. Xiao Li, you’ll have to be even more careful from now on.” Yuan Shu reminded him earnestly.
After all, she had kissed him before, and he was so deeply devoted to her. She couldn’t bear to hurt him, much less see anyone else harm him.
Xiao Li’s lips moved slightly. His gaze fell on Yuan Shu’s beautiful face, and his eyes trembled faintly as he hesitated before speaking.
“Miss Yuan, can you… help me?”
Yuan Shu’s eyes paused. She didn’t finish her sentence.
“I’ll do my best.”
It was as good as an agreement.
A smile curved Xiao Li’s lips. Unable to restrain himself, he reached out, pulled Yuan Shu from the edge of the bed, and wrapped her in his arms.
“With Miss Yuan’s word, I’m no longer afraid of anything.”
“My words are that important?”
“Of course. They’re incredibly important!”
Xiao Li tightened his arms around Yuan Shu and buried his face deeply against the crook of her neck.
From the moment he had woken up until now, this was what he had wanted to do. But Yuan Shu had been worrying over his situation, so he hadn’t dared make a move.
After Yuan Shu had left that day, he had woken up in his own room. He had been dazed for quite some time before finally learning what had happened from the people around him.
He had known then that the dark power within him had been exposed.
That kind of power was forbidden by the Luoxian Sect.
But Yuan Shu had not exposed him. She had even gone to great lengths to conceal the truth on his behalf.
That proved Yuan Shu truly liked him.
He had missed her terribly these past few days.
Xiao Li lightly brushed his lips against Yuan Shu’s neck, only for her to cup his face in her hands. With a soft laugh, she leaned closer.
“Kissing my neck tickles. Why not kiss somewhere else?”
