Xu Mu had finished his questions.
Xian Erjiu was at her time of death.
The lightning cage that trapped her divine consciousness gradually shrank within the grip of his palm, exerting immense pressure on Xian Erjiu, making it feel as though the sky was about to collapse.
The golden soul-form within her body, filled with terror, cried out in a startled voice as it looked at the silent Xu Mu:
"Stop, hurry and stop!"
"You don't need to kill me!"
Xu Mu lay exhausted on the mountain ground, ignoring Xian Erjiu's desperate pleas. He deliberately, slowly, and bit by bit, reduced the space within the lightning cage.
He couldn't let her die so easily, nor could he let her live on to refine her physical body and return to life later, because that would be unfair to those humans who had been killed by Xian Erjiu.
"No!!!"
Amidst Xian Erjiu's despairing wails, Xu Mu's palm closed completely. The primal source within the lightning cage engulfed Xian Erjiu's soul-form, instantly turning it into dust.
Xian Erjiu was dead.
In extreme fear and confusion.
From her perspective, she still held great value to Xu Mu. For instance, she could help Xu Mu find the elves hidden within the human world, or assist them in dealing with the Golden Tent Royal Court. At the very least, she could serve as a link to destroy the Weaving Heaven Pavilion.
Moreover, she herself was an elf.
To humans, elves were practically legendary beings, as rare as any treasure, their value immeasurable.
She had never imagined that she, an elf of such "immense value," would die at the hands of a human.
But she was indeed dead now.
Xu Mu lay alone on the desolate mountain ground, his eyes tightly shut. The muscles that had been tensed all day finally relaxed, and the pain from his wounds stimulated his nerves.
"—Hiss!"
After a while, Xu Mu carefully turned over, changing his position on the muddy ground. He took out a pill from his embrace and swallowed it. The surging medicinal power, combined with his glazed blood, continuously repaired his internal organs.
However, even with his tenacious vitality, complete recovery would not be achieved overnight.
"It seems I can't return to the Imperial City for now."
Xu Mu painfully sat up and rummaged through Xian Erjiu's corpse. He quickly found a spatial storage bag at her lower back.
The bag had no restrictions, only a simple knot tied with a small brown rope at the opening, suggesting it could be untied with a gentle tug.
Xu Mu moved his finger towards the knot.
Then, his brows suddenly furrowed.
"I'll wait until my injuries heal before trying."
Xu Mu pondered for a moment and put the spatial storage bag into his embrace.
Xian Erjiu hailed from the elf race, possessing unparalleled wisdom and powerful dark magic. For something as important as a spatial storage bag, he didn't believe she would have done nothing to safeguard it.
Although he couldn't sense any restrictions on the rope at the moment, if he were to pull the knot and accidentally trigger something terrifying, he wouldn't be able to resist it in his current state.
Night gradually fell.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. The mountain wind howled like a wolf's cry in the night. A pack of hungry wolves rushed out from the bushes, their mouths agape, ready to devour Xu Mu and Xian Erjiu.
Xian Erjiu's form and spirit had vanished, but she was, after all, a four-stage lord-level elf. Her physical body was not something ordinary wolves could bite through. Furthermore, her blood, due to her cultivation of dark magic, was poisonous. Instantly, three or four coyotes fell dead on the spot, their limbs stiff.
As for the several coyotes that had intended to feed on Xu Mu, their teeth were snapped like brittle wood. Those ferocious fangs couldn't even leave two tooth marks on Xu Mu's body.
"So itchy."
Xu Mu groggily opened his eyes from his sleep, unconsciously scratching his back. He then looked at the wild wolf carcasses lying in pools of blood before him, slowly understanding what had happened.
Listening to the receding howls of the wolves in the distance, he clicked his tongue, not paying them much mind, and began to assess his own condition.
"Still a long way from full recovery."
"But at least I can walk normally now."
Xu Mu frowned slightly and stood up from the ground, casually dusting himself off. After several hours of focused meditation, the severe injuries he sustained in his battle with Xian Erjiu were basically under control. As long as there were no accidents, recovery was only a matter of time and would not worsen.
Therefore, he should now consider more important matters.
For example, informing Zhou Yuan of the situation here.
Xu Mu took out a jade slip from his spatial ring. It was a communication artifact specially prepared by Zhou Yuan for him, Zuo Mingqiu, and Li Zao. The four of them could contact each other at any time using this artifact.
"This is Xu Mu."
"Xian Erjiu, the person in charge of the Imperial City branch of the Weaving Heaven Pavilion, has been killed by me on a desolate mountain. Her true identity is a dark elf from Alfheim. She came to the human world to help her kin return to the land, and she had the support of the Golden Tent Royal Court behind her. The situation is very complicated."
"For specific details, I will report them after I recover and return to the Imperial City."
Xu Mu finished speaking in a calm tone and stood there for three seconds. Seeing no reply, he fell silent. Then, his voice hoarse again, he asked:
"Zuo Mingqiu, are you still alive?"
"..."
There was only silence from the jade slip.
He received no reply.
Xu Mu's mouth twitched slightly, and a sense of extreme foreboding rose in his heart.
Throughout the chase that day, he had had no free time, yet his mind had been constantly worried about Zuo Mingqiu's safety. The information about Xian Erjiu was extracted by him, and Zhou Yuan's mission was arranged based on this information. No one had ever doubted the authenticity of the information, nor had anyone doubted him. The trust involved was self-evident.
But the result was that the information he extracted was wrong, almost costing him his life at the city gate, and several demons from the Weaving Heaven Pavilion had escaped.
And at the other city gates, Zuo Mingqiu and Li Zao had encountered even stronger enemies. His own survival was a stroke of luck; what about Zuo Mingqiu?
Would such a stroke of luck happen a second time?
Xu Mu clenched his fist silently.
Because he had inadvertently taken Zuo Mingqiu's Heavenly Master inheritance through his words, he already felt a sense of guilt towards him, always feeling that he had played a part in it. Moreover, the two were now friends who had gone through life and death together.
If the latter died due to his mistake, he would never forgive himself in this lifetime.
"If you are truly dead, I will avenge you."
"The elf race, the Golden Tent Royal Court, anyone involved in this, I will not let them go."
Xu Mu clutched the jade slip and murmured to himself.
"Your relationship with him is better than I expected." Zhou Yuan's voice came from the jade slip.
"But don't worry, he's not dead, and neither is Li Zao. They are both doing fine."
Zhou Yuan's voice came again. Xu Mu was first stunned, then a smile of relief appeared on his face.
"All's well that ends well."
"That's not necessarily true."
Just as Xu Mu was relieved that Zuo Mingqiu was alive, Zhou Yuan's sigh came again:
"Zuo Mingqiu is not dead, but your life might be in danger."
"Earlier, several major events occurred in the Imperial City. This morning, Zhou Wuji led troops to surround my residence..."
"That's roughly how things unfolded. Your identity seems to have been exposed, and people from the Demon Extermination Division are looking for you all over the world. You don't need to return to the Imperial City, and you can't travel through Beilong Dao anymore. I can barely protect myself now, so take care of yourself."
The jade slip quickly dimmed and then shattered.
This represented Zhou Yuan cutting off contact with Xu Mu.
It was self-preservation, and also a form of protection for Xu Mu, because from now on, no one could find Xu Mu's location through him.
"Alright."
Xu Mu looked at the jade dust in his palm and answered in silence.
He hadn't expected that in just one day, the situation in the Imperial City would develop to this point. Zuo Mingqiu's identity was exposed, and Zhou Wuji had surrounded Zhou Yuan's mansion in front of all the civil and military officials. Although Zhou Yuan eventually resolved it without conclusive evidence, Li Zao and Zuo Mingqiu's identities were also exposed.
In this struggle, the First Prince seemed to have won by capturing people, but he hadn't truly won, because Zhou Yuan had protected himself.
And Zhou Yuan had not won either. Although he had severely damaged the Weaving Heaven Pavilion, he had not obtained the crucial evidence to expose Zhou Wuji's identity. Moreover, he had revealed many of his trump cards.
There were no winners in this game, except for the Emperor.
He had used this as an excuse, willing to bear the cost of war, causing the Great Xia Dynasty to lose much.
As for himself, he had also fallen into danger. People from the Demon Extermination Division had detected his identity and were searching for his whereabouts.
Under the guise of escorting him back to the Great Xia Dynasty.
But the question was, was their so-called escort truly an escort?
"Only a ghost would believe that."
Xu Mu cast one last glance at Xian Erjiu's corpse on the ground, conjured a stream of fierce fire with his fingertip, burning it to ashes and burying it. He then casually concealed the traces of the surrounding fight.
Since Beilong Dao was impassable, he would have to cross the ocean to return to the Great Xia Dynasty. The journey would undoubtedly be fraught with countless dangers, and time was pressing, but Xu Mu was not afraid.
Xu Mu turned around, stepped onto the muddy mountain path, leaving no footprints, and gradually disappeared into the night of the desolate mountains of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Just like that year, a youth walking by night.
...