“Although I don’t know the reason for the failure, I feel it must have something to do with that wisp of divine sense left by Tengshe. After all, every step of the process went smoothly—the only problem occurred when sending Qingyi back to her original body.”
In response to Ye Qingyu’s inquiry, Su Mu laid out his suspicions completely.
“So what are you planning to do next?”
“Contact Sister Hong and ask for her advice.” Su Mu answered without hesitation, then added thoughtfully, “But I still need to head back to the capital first. I wonder how Master is doing, and whether the Six-Headed Serpent Spirit Herb had any effect.”
He had handed the item to Yin Tianxi right after coming out of the temple secret realm. With an A-rank peak elder like that handling it, he figured things should be fine.
Ye Qingyu nodded. “You really should go see Old Qin. He hasn’t been doing well lately. Your senior brother Yang Jie was urgently called back half a month ago. If it weren’t for your medicine arriving in time, I’m afraid…”
Ye Qingyi also chimed in, “We can put our matter on hold for now. We’ve already found a method—it’s just a process of trial and error.”
“Yeah.” With so many things piling up, Su Mu felt extremely restless inside.
Ye Qingyi could read his thoughts. She stepped forward and gently placed an arm around his shoulder. She didn’t say a word, yet it felt as though she’d said everything.
Su Mu let out a long sigh, a hint of warmth rising in his eyes.
Just then, Ye Qingyu suddenly spoke in a less-than-friendly tone: “You two, stop with the lovey-dovey act. Take your hands off each other!”
Ye Qingyi stuck out her tongue and withdrew her arm from around Su Mu. Su Mu scratched his nose, not quite understanding why she was suddenly upset.
“I’ve been kind enough to act as your pilot and your bodyguard, and what do you do? You act like I’m not bright enough or something—just keep charging right in front of me?!” Ye Qingyu fumed. “I’m hurt. I’m leaving. Next time you get bullied, don’t drop my name—I don’t know you.”
She turned her head away in a huff.
Ye Qingyi immediately grabbed her sister’s sleeve and started acting cute and coaxing, while signaling Su Mu with her eyes to join in.
Su Mu’s mouth opened slightly, his face full of awkwardness, as if to say: I! Can’t! Do! That!
But in the very next instant, before Ye Qingyi could even react, she saw Su Mu step over to Ye Qingyu’s side, putting on a sugary, delicate act: “Sister, I was wrong. Please forgive me…”
His pretty eyes were shimmering, looking as though he might burst into tears at any moment. Ye Qingyu’s heart gave a little jolt—her protective instincts kicked in, and she actually felt an urge to pull him into her arms and comfort him.
“Fine, fine, I forgive you two.” Ye Qingyu pouted, then shot a suspicious glance at Su Mu. “But you—you’re so good at acting cute and sweet-talking. You must know quite a few sweet girls, huh!”
Su Mu sneakily glanced at Ye Qingyi’s face. Sure enough, she was pouting with displeasure. So he immediately straightened up—chest out, chin up, stomach in—raised three fingers, and declared with righteous solemnity: “I swear—”
Rumble rumble…
Ye Qingyu smacked her lips and let out a cold laugh. “See? See? You haven’t even said a word yet.”
Su Mu looked up at the sky and saw nothing but clear blue—not a single trace of thunder.
Then what was that…?
He was still puzzled when another blast-like rumble rolled in from the distance, lasting a good ten seconds before fading.
At the same time, faint flashes of lightning flickered at the horizon, and the surrounding spiritual energy seemed to be surging in that direction.
Now even Ye Qingyu frowned, realizing something serious was going on.
“Wait here—I’ll go check it out!” Her figure vanished into the clouds in an instant.
“Do you think it might be Elder Yuhang, Luo Wanqing, playing with a tree?” Su Mu asked with a strange expression.
In his impression, this young elder had an exceptionally pure mind—curious about everything he saw, like a child—yet his strength was unbelievably formidable.
“Judging by the direction, it’s quite possible.” Ye Qingyi gazed in the direction her sister had gone, muttering to herself. Then, suddenly remembering something, she immediately put on a stern face. “Don’t change the subject. Let’s continue—do you know a lot of sweet girls or not?”
“I am now, nine out of ten, a proper lady, with a few sisters and purely clear relationships. If you dare spout nonsense again, I shall knock upon thy skull as a lesson.” Su Mu suddenly adopted a refined, genteel air, speaking in a flowery, absurd manner while reaching out to tap Ye Qingyi’s head.
Ye Qingyi clenched her teeth, utterly exasperated.
Su Mu had never been one to act serious, especially around people he knew well—and even more so when that person was Ye Qingyi.
With Ye Qingyu around earlier, he’d held back. But now that it was just the two of them, his inner drama queen had fully awakened…
And Ye Qingyi wasn’t about to let him off just because he was currently in a girl’s body. She grabbed his fair, swan-like neck without hesitation, putting on a fierce expression: “Woman, don’t get too cocky!”
She looked just like those overbearing CEOs from short videos—cool and domineering—her hand tightening slightly around Su Mu’s neck, a teasing glint in her eyes.
Su Mu simply tilted his chin up, his pretty eyes suddenly turning stubborn, then fragile, as though carrying a world of unspoken grievances, tears welling before words could even form.
His cheeks puffed out, his pink lips pressed tightly together. He said nothing, just turned his head away with a clear “I don’t want to talk to you” look.
Ye Qingyi blinked, then reached out and gently pinched Su Mu’s puffed-up cheeks, applying a little pressure.
Pop!
His tightly sealed lips were forced open by a burst of air. With his cheeks squished, his face looked even more pitifully adorable.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You wouldn’t even grow your hair long back then just to prove you were still manly. And now look at you—if any guy saw you like this, his heart would ache.” Ye Qingyi couldn’t help teasing him.
With his mouth pinched, Su Mu’s words came out muffled and strangely cute: “I am a celestial fairy from above—how dare thee treat me so lightly! Release me at once, or thou shalt not walk away unscathed…”
Ye Qingyi was utterly charmed by his antics and burst into laughter. But seeing how adorable he looked, she couldn’t resist giving him a light peck on the lips before finally letting go.
Seeing that she’d dropped the earlier subject, Su Mu let out a breath of relief. Some things were just hard to explain clearly—telling the plain truth might only create distance, but lying didn’t sit well with him either. With a bit of playful chaos, everything simply faded away.
Su Mu seized the moment to grab Ye Qingyi’s arm and nodded toward the direction Ye Qingyu had gone. “Shall we go check it out too?”
“Sure.”
The two set off down the mountain, hailed a taxi, and made their way to Maishan.
From a distance, they could see the top of the wheat-stack-shaped mountain faintly crackling with electrical light, the spiritual energy around it unusually dense. Using his sharp vision, Su Mu spotted Ye Qingyu hovering far off in the air.
“Even Sister didn’t dare get close—it must be dangerous.” Ye Qingyi frowned. “I need to bring this up with Luo Wanqing. This is a scenic area with a lot of tourists—if someone got hurt, that would be bad.”
Su Mu stared at the thunderclouds above the peak for a long moment, then slowly shook his head. “No. I have a feeling this place isn’t going to be a scenic spot much longer.”
“You mean—” Ye Qingyi tilted her head, already forming the answer.
“Exactly.” Su Mu’s expression turned serious. “That lightning-struck tree at the top has always been unusual. With such phenomena appearing now, it’s clearly a great opportunity for Elder Luo. If it can really enhance his lightning abilities, I think this place will soon become his private training ground.”
No sooner had he spoken than another muffled thunderclap crashed down from the sky. Su Mu gazed into the distance and noticed, amid that cataclysmic energy, a faint sense of new life budding forth.
