Jian Ruyan didn't speak, but directly showed Mu Jinyu the satellite surveillance video that had been enlarged a hundred times.
She knew that the only person she could trust, the only person who would wholeheartedly help her find Xiang Mantang, was Mu Jinyu.
Mu Jinyu took Jian Ruyan's cell phone, opened the video to look, and at first glance, he saw only darkness, not knowing what it was.
But he understood that Jian Ruyan wouldn't show him a useless video, so he narrowed his eyes and started to watch carefully in the darkness.
Then, he saw a figure moving within the darkness.
It was just a silhouette, but it made Mu Jinyu shudder violently.
He quickly raised his head to look at Jian Ruyan, and incredulously asked, "Ah-Xiang, Ah-Xiang... has he fallen into that darkness?"
"Mhm." Jian Ruyan nodded lightly, and for the first time, worry appeared on her usually calm face.
She then took back her cell phone from Mu Jinyu's hand and pulled up the unenlarged video, showing him the scene of the darkness spreading and corroding everything.
Mu Jinyu had come in haste and hadn't had a chance to understand what exactly had happened here.
He had a faint feeling that Xiang Mantang might be in danger and followed a few of the major organizations to a meeting, where he learned about the horror of the imminent disaster and the Tide of Chaos.
Now, seeing the dark corrosion shown by Jian Ruyan, as if it had caused the surrounding environment to age hundreds or thousands of years in an instant, everything decaying, he realized how terrible the crisis Xiang Mantang was facing was!
"This this…"
Mu Jinyu watched the video proceed, Xiang Mantang shrouded in darkness, and finally, slowly moving away towards an uninhabited direction, trembling slightly all over.
"What should we do? How can we save him?"
Mu Jinyu raised his head and looked at Jian Ruyan with great anxiety.
He was at a loss for what to do.
He knew Xiang Mantang's situation must be extremely dangerous, but the danger he was facing now was different from the incident at Kunlun Mountain.
That time he was able to find Xiang Mantang and rescue him, but now, even if he was to find Xiang Mantang's location, would he dare to approach?
To get close would surely mean being devoured down to his bones, scattering as ash.
That would be deliberately seeking death, utterly pointless!
Only by finding a solution could he possibly rescue Xiang Mantang.
Jian Ruyan hesitated, then said, "I think an Omniscient person might know the solution, but I don't dare ask them directly.
After all, my brother... Tianshu has now become entangled with the darkness, and their Heavenly Eyes can't see his fate.
To facilitate the resolution of this matter, they might consider suppressing both him and the source of the darkness together, rather than saving Tianshu first, then suppressing the source of the darkness!"
"Mhm." Mu Jinyu also shared this concern.
After all, if the source of darkness were entwined with Sheng Rulai or Li Yaotong, they wouldn't care about separating them, but would rather solve the problem quickly by suppressing them together.
Sacrificing one person to save countless others would be far too worthwhile.
As for what it felt like to be the one sacrificed, that wasn't their concern.
But now, the one entangled with the source of darkness was Xiang Mantang, and he simply couldn't think or act that way.
People are always hypocritical; the sacrifice of a stranger and the sacrifice of a relative are completely different in gravity.
"However, what we can know now," Jian Ruyan continued, "is that Tianshu is probably not in any immediate danger, so we must quickly come up with a way to rescue him."
Mu Jinyu's brow furrowed as he said, "Indeed, time is of the essence and we can't discuss it rashly with outsiders. Firstly, we need to find Ah-Xiang, then try to communicate with him to see if his consciousness still exists..."
"Yes, I think so too," Jian Ruyan nodded.
Mu Jinyu looked up to find the direction Xiang Mantang had left in and soon pinpointed the exact location.
After all, Xiang Mantang was shrouded in darkness when leaving, and the commotion was huge, leaving behind distinct traces, making it blatantly obvious.
Li Yaotong and his group actually also knew the direction in which the darkness had departed. They might not be aware of Xiang Mantang's presence within it, but during the meeting, they all turned a blind eye to the departing direction of this dark source and didn't bring it up voluntarily.
It was because they knew that getting involved with the dark source was tantamount to courting death.
Now, for some unknown reason, the dark source was compressed into a range of a thousand miles and was no longer spreading across the globe, making it a natural choice for them to first deal with the imminent disaster and other demons.
"It's over here, let's go."
After pinpointing the location, Mu Jinyu called out to Jian Ruyan and started running briskly forward.
'I hope we can still catch up,' Mu Jinyu muttered to himself.
Later on, seeing that Jian Ruyan's speed was way too slow, Mu Jinyu frowned and said, "Relax a bit, don't use True Yuan to protect your body; I'll protect you as we go."
"Okay," Jian Ruyan agreed.
She knew that after Mu Jinyu had entered the God Realm, he also possessed the divine skill of Shrinking Ground into Inches. If they were to catch up to Xiang Mantang, having Mu Jinyu take her along would definitely be faster than her running alone.
Afterward, Jian Ruyan relaxed and let Mu Jinyu harness the Heaven and Earth Vital Energy, embracing her, and then they pursued Xiang Mantang's departure direction at an incredibly fast speed that was beyond imagination.
Chasing after Xiang Mantang with Jian Ruyan did not prove challenging for Mu Jinyu. After all, he was using the Heaven and Earth Vital Energy and not his True Yuan, plus he was only taking Jian Ruyan with him.
While tracking, Mu Jinyu suddenly spoke up, "By the way, Yaoguang Hall Master, Jian Ruyan isn't your real name, is it?"
Being carried forward by Mu Jinyu, as if soaring through the air, Jian Ruyan's body tensed slightly at his question. After hesitating for a moment and letting out a sigh, she said quietly, "Yes, that's right."
Indeed, there are people with the surname 'With Sword,' though few in number, and Jian Ruyan's real name was indeed not Jian Ruyan.
All she hoped now was that Mu Jinyu hadn't discovered anything.
In a casual tone, Mu Jinyu asked, "Your real name wouldn't happen to be Xiang Yinxui, would it?"
Upon hearing Mu Jinyu's words, Jian Ruyan's face turned deathly pale, her lips pressed tightly together, at a loss for words.
After a long moment, she spoke faintly, "How did you know?"
Mu Jinyu was not surprised by Jian Ruyan's reaction. As he led the way through the sky, he explained:
"Your feelings for Ah-Xiang are very special. At first, I thought you were infatuated with him and even thought we might one day rejoice at your wedding. But later, I felt that something was off, the way you looked at him was completely different from the way my wives look at me..."
"I could overlook that, after all, I don't understand the heart of a woman."
"But just now, when I saw you use a secret technique to temporarily boost your strength to the God Realm and the Curse Ice Phoenix Mark appeared on your forehead, I understood that you were most likely the sister Ah-Xiang has been searching for, Xiang Yinxui!"