**Chapter 284: Sounds**
Meanwhile, in the dim, rundown courtyard of the Chen family mansion, Mu Jixue slowly opened her dazed purple eyes after a haze of confusion passed.
Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows on her slightly pale face.
“Xue’er sister!”
As soon as Su Xiaoxiao heard a faint sound, she immediately sprinted over, her face bursting into a mix of surprise and joy.
Her bright eyes shone with relief as she saw Mu Jixue waking up, like a boulder had just rolled off her chest.
Mu Jixue lay on the ground, her eyes still hazy as she looked around. She scanned left and right, and when her gaze swept over Su Xinghe’s worried face, she didn’t linger but continued searching, seemingly expecting some familiar figure to appear.
“Where’s Yun Zhonghe?”
This question hit the room like a cold gust of wind, freezing the atmosphere instantly.
Su Xiaoxiao’s shoulders trembled involuntarily, and the light in her eyes dimmed, her heart battling a storm of conflicting emotions.
It took quite a while before she mustered her courage and responded slowly, “Xue’er sister, don’t you remember? Brother Yun was taken away by the suddenly appearing corpse.”
Mu Jixue’s memory had just been a shaky blur, but reminded by Su Xiaoxiao, her eyes widened in shock as she hurriedly tried to get up from the ground.
“No, we need to rescue him…”
Ignoring the painful wounds on her body that were still healing, Mu Jixue forced herself to rise.
Seeing this, Su Xinghe rushed forward and pressed firmly on her shoulder. “What can you do in your current state? Just lay back and accept treatment!”
Mu Jixue’s eyes were filled with reluctance. “He’s in danger… I can’t just sit back and do nothing… Let go!”
“Calm down! Don’t you think we’re anxious too? But we can’t even get out of this barrier!”
As Su Xinghe spoke, her eyes dimmed even further.
Within that dimness, a deep sense of guilt and shame brewed. As the highest cultivated among the four, she felt utterly powerless during this incident, even putting Yun Zhonghe in greater danger, and his whereabouts were still unknown.
A wave of unexplainable guilt and embarrassment washed over her.
Recalling the moment Mu Jixue had collapsed from exhaustion, she immediately rushed over to check on her, missing the best opportunity to escape the barrier.
As a result, the barrier, breached by the corpse, quickly healed completely.
The three were trapped inside.
Su Xinghe had studied the barrier’s structure and properties deeply. This barrier was uniquely constructed, with a tremendous resistance to elemental spells that could nearly block all attacks below advanced spells, but it had slightly weaker resistance against physical blows.
In theory, if one had Yuan Ying level physical strength, they could forcefully break a breach and escape.
However, unfortunately, Su Xinghe, as a spellcaster, was stronger in spells, not brute strength, while Su Xiaoxiao, although physically strong, was still far from being able to break this barrier.
Listening to Su Xinghe’s detailed explanation and analysis, a serious expression appeared on Mu Jixue’s face.
After a moment of silence, she asked slowly, “How long has it been since Yun Zhonghe was taken?”
Su Xinghe’s eyes darkened even more. “It’s been two hours…”
These three words struck each heart like a heavy hammer, making everyone feel even heavier.
Two hours. If something unfortunate happened, it would have already happened—too late.
This cold reality loomed over everyone’s hearts like a heavy shackle.
“It’s… all my fault. If I hadn’t been so weak, Brother Yun wouldn’t…”
Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t hold back any longer, her voice trembling, her eyes already red, tears streaming down like beads from a broken string.
She was the most guilty and the most self-reproaching. If it weren’t for her needing saving, Yun Zhonghe wouldn’t have been corrupted by that eerie Yin energy, nor would he have been taken away by the corpse without a fight, now lost, possibly in grave danger.
The more she thought about it, the sadder she became. Her tears fell uncontrollably like a floodgate bursting open. “I’m really useless! I can’t help at all, just dragging Brother Yun down into despair… Wuwuwu…”
Mu Jixue consoled her, “This isn’t your fault, Xiaoxiao. Yun Zhonghe… he willingly wanted to save you. Even if he faces misfortune, he would never blame anyone. That’s just how foolish he is, always putting others’ safety first without considering his own…”
Exactly. He really was that kind of person, always thinking of others, a total fool for not caring about his own safety, leaping head first into peril time and again. Mu Jixue felt this deeply.
From the moment they met in Cangzhou City, he had always been this way. Whenever danger approached, he never hesitated to rush to the front.
Mu Jixue took a deep breath. “And I believe he’s still alive! That guy’s tough as nails. Maybe in a bit, he’ll come out smiling from some corner, or he’ll show off to save us when we’re in trouble, giving us a surprise.”
Whether it was Su Xiaoxiao or Su Xinghe, they both felt this was indeed typical of Yun Zhonghe.
Each person’s mind automatically conjured memories of the times they spent with Yun Zhonghe. No matter the danger or difficulties, he always managed to turn things around and lead them out of trouble.
“I believe he’s still alive! No matter what, I will find him!”
Mu Jixue’s words were laced with unwavering determination and persistence.
Her strength seemed to infect Su Xiaoxiao and Su Xinghe, both unwittingly caught up in her emotions.
Especially Su Xiaoxiao, who dried her tears, her eyes shimmering with renewed hope. “I also believe Brother Yun is fine! He will definitely return safely!”
Su Xinghe nodded vigorously, her eyes slightly red. “Yeah, he will be okay. He’s always helped us; now it’s our turn to help him.”
At this moment, Mu Jixue seemed to embody Yun Zhonghe’s spirit, as if the backbone of hope had returned.
This gave Su Xinghe a surreal feeling.
Not just at this moment; thinking back to when the black shadow was about to attack, Mu Jixue had also leaped in front of them like Yun Zhonghe without hesitation.
In that moment, Mu Jixue’s silhouette resembled Yun Zhonghe’s so strikingly.
There seemed to be a profound connection between Yun Zhonghe and Mu Jixue that she couldn’t comprehend—a bond that tightly intertwined them.
This connection felt insurmountable.
Su Xinghe opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately broke into a relieved smile.
She suddenly understood, whatever means she used would likely never shake that bond between them.
It wasn’t just a romantic connection, it was also about dreams, responsibilities, and support…
This was fundamentally different from their own relationships.
Right now, Mu Jixue was receiving treatment from Su Xiaoxiao, the life energy enveloping her like warm sunlight, gradually repairing her injuries.
Su Xinghe wasn’t idle either; she took out a precious recovery spirit energy Dan Pill from her storage ring and gently offered it to Mu Jixue.
With a slight pout, she said, a bit haughty, “Here, take it.”
Mu Jixue was taken aback. “Thank you.” She accepted the pill.
Su Xinghe huffed lightly. “Just now… thanks.”
Mu Jixue looked at Su Xinghe’s shy yet slightly proud expression, giving her a mischievous smile, “Are you admitting defeat?”
“Who’s admitting defeat?!”
Su Xinghe’s face flushed immediately, her eyes wide as she retorted, “That’s not it! It’s just a temporary truce!”
With a disdainful huff, Su Xinghe turned away and ignored Mu Jixue.
Watching this, Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but giggle.
As sisters, Su Xiaoxiao undoubtedly knew Su Xinghe best. Despite Su Xinghe’s habitual resistance, her attitude towards Mu Jixue had undergone a significant change after this series of events, and much of her conflict had dissipated.
She thought it was nice because Mu Jixue was also an important friend to Su Xiaoxiao, and she didn’t want their relationship to remain so tense.
Su Xiaoxiao hoped everyone could coexist harmoniously.
However, at this moment, they had no time to dwell on the thawing ice between the two; they needed to quickly find the most important person in their hearts, the indispensable one.
**“Is that so? Do you really think so?”**
At that moment, Su Xiaoxiao seemed to hear someone whispering softly behind her. She turned around sharply, finding nothing but emptiness.
Su Xiaoxiao: ?
“Xiaoxiao? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, sister!”
Mu Jixue and Su Xinghe looked at her quizzically.
“Nothing… nothing at all.”
Su Xiaoxiao awkwardly forced a smile, inwardly musing that she might have been too nervous and imagined things.
However, the strange voice echoed again in her mind like a devil’s whisper.
**“You can’t compare to them. Do you really think you’ll receive the same treatment? He only favors them, you’ll be left out.”**
**“Of course, he needs to be exclusively yours~ right~”**
**“Exclusively exclusively exclusively exclusively exclusively exclusively… he can only be yours…”**
The eerie voice lingered in her mind, refusing to fade away.
Su Xiaoxiao felt a piercing pain in her head, clutching her temples and shouting, “Shut up! Just shut up!”
Suddenly, the surrounding air grew calm again, free from the strange voices, but Mu Jixue and Su Xinghe stared at her in shock.
They had just witnessed Su Xiaoxiao’s odd behavior, which looked like she was being driven by some force, her eyes flashing with unprecedented intense emotions—it was a bit scary.
Realizing her loss of composure, Su Xiaoxiao’s cheeks flushed red, feeling embarrassed as she lowered her head, whispering, “I-I’m sorry…”
She herself didn’t quite understand what had just come over her; it felt like a sudden rush of furious outrage that wasn’t typical of her.
Seeing her sister silent, Su Xinghe fell into deep thought.
Just earlier, during the battle with the corpses, perhaps it was an illusion, but she thought she saw her sister transform into someone else…
Time trickled by in silence until Mu Jixue’s wounds finally healed under Su Xiaoxiao’s treatment.
With the power of the Dan Pill, the three’s spirit energy was restored to full capacity.
Next, they needed to think about how to get out.
This barrier was more solid than imagined; it had high resistance against elemental spells and needed Yuan Ying level physical strength to break through.
“Elemental spells? What about non-elemental spells? What would happen then?”
Mu Jixue found a blind spot.
Su Xinghe paused at her words; she indeed had never considered the issue from this angle.
She couldn’t judge how rare attributes would affect this barrier.
So Mu Jixue decided to give it a try.
Launching an ice elemental attack, she watched as icy blades shot toward the barrier. Though it still didn’t break it, the impressions left by the ice blades were significantly deeper than those from elemental spells, proving that ice spells were indeed more effective against this barrier.
If it were an intermediate ice spell, there was a good chance it could break through.
It was a pity that Mu Jixue only mastered a low-level ice spell; while combining it with Extreme Cold could rival an intermediate spell, it ultimately was not a full-fledged intermediate spell.
“What about lightning spells? If we used lightning spells, would they work too?”
Su Xiaoxiao suddenly recalled something and quickly retrieved a stack of Thunderbolt Talismans from her storage ring.
These were her failed products from when she usually crafted talismans.
“Sister, where did you get so many talismans?”
Su Xinghe looked at her with an odd expression.
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t have time for many explanations; she just wanted to see if the lightning spells would work.
So Su Xinghe curtly replied, “If you stack so many Thunderbolt Talismans together, it can unleash the power of a true intermediate spell.”
But it would take at least a hundred to achieve that effect.
Each Thunderbolt Talisman was worth three hundred spirit stones, a hundred totaling thirty thousand spirit stones—using thirty thousand spirit stones to unleash an intermediate spell was quite extravagant.
In contrast, Yuan Ying spellcasters hardly spent anything to unleash intermediate spells; unless in urgent situations requiring quick energy recovery, they would only need to rest to naturally recover.
So, unless one specialized in talismans, most wouldn’t prepare such an abundant supply.
What could Su Xiaoxiao say? They were all her failures.
If it weren’t for Yun Zhonghe insisting she keep them, she might have discarded these failures long ago, never imagining they would come in handy one day.
Su Xiaoxiao’s Thunderbolt Talismans had flaws—the lightning would only strike the user, but given the barrier’s protection, that shouldn’t pose too much of a worry.
Feeling nostalgic, Su Xiaoxiao thought Yun Zhonghe truly had foresight.
Then, she promptly laid out all the Thunderbolt Talismans in a line, preparing to try.
With a command, a hundred Thunderbolt Talismans activated simultaneously!
Boom!
A powerful spirit energy surged in the air, and the sky above the Chen family mansion formed a thick bank of dark clouds, much like a heavenly tribulation, shaking the entire space with its might.
As the hundred talisman papers simultaneously unleashed their energy, a deafening crash resonated, and a violent bolt of lightning, like a silver dragon, cleaved through the sky, striking the barrier fiercely!
The three held their breath, nervously watching the scene.
Finally, under the thunderclap, the seemingly transparent barrier cracked open a small fissure, which quickly expanded into a gap large enough for a person to pass through.
“We did it! Let’s hurry!” Su Xiaoxiao exclaimed excitedly.
With a hole now open, the three of them didn’t hesitate and dashed through.
Finally breaking free from the barrier, the trio didn’t have time to catch their breath before they noticed they were surrounded by a crowd outside.
Among these people were both servants of the Chen family and some cultivators, but without exception, they were all at the Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment levels—just a bunch of unsightly weaklings compared to them. When Su Xinghe’s Yuan Ying pressure fell, the onlookers were all pinned down by an invisible hand, forced to kneel in place, unable to move a muscle.
These Chen family members, whether complicit in their family’s wrongdoings or not, had benefited from the power and wealth bestowed by the Chen family and turned a blind eye to its evils, even aiding and abetting them. Who among them could claim innocence?
At this moment, the sky remained pitch black, while the Chen residence was brightly lit, the sounds of desperate pleas resounding.
“Spare us, Immortal! We didn’t know anything! Please spare us!”
To these cries for mercy, Su Xinghe merely shot them a cold glance. Her voice was as chilling as ice. “Whether or not I spare you does not depend on me. How much you know and how much sin you’ve committed, the Immortal Alliance will soon send people to question you!”
At her words, the Chen family members and the cultivators, who had been trying to struggle, suddenly fell silent, all prostrating on the ground, not daring to take a breath.
Su Xinghe didn’t wish to waste any more breath on these people. She quickly made a decision. She sent Su Xiaoxiao to report to the local Immortal Alliance, requesting them to send people over to seal off the Chen family and investigate the matter.
After all, the Immortal Alliance, as the law enforcement body in the cultivation world, was most suitable for handling such situations.
As for Mu Jixue, she was nervously trying to contact Yun Zhonghe.
She took out her transmission jade pendant, but unfortunately, the message was like a stone sinking into the sea—no one answered, making her heart feel a bit anxious.
Then she remembered Lin Zhongyu and hesitated about whether to inform her of the situation.
However, after some thought, she decided to hold off for now.
Lin Zhongyu was in the Western Continent, and she couldn’t help much.
Speaking of Lin Zhongyu, Mu Jixue suddenly recalled something.
Back in Qingzhu Town, she had given Yun Zhonghe a transmission talisman, one that possessed the power to traverse space, allowing the holder to swiftly reach the other person’s side in emergencies.
Now, faced with Yun Zhonghe’s disappearance, Mu Jixue remembered the existence of this talisman and quickly retrieved the corresponding half from her storage space. She gently touched it, trying to activate its power.
However, to her disappointment, no matter how she infused it with spirit energy, the talisman showed no reaction whatsoever.
“Still can’t find him? What a joke… Could this thing be fake?”
Previously, when Lin Zhongyu was taken away, the paired transmission talisman had failed; now that Yun Zhonghe was taken, it still wouldn’t work.
Mu Jixue was utterly speechless!
However… if the transmission talisman was ineffective, it might also mean that some unknown mysterious power was blocking communication with Yun Zhonghe’s location.
She tried several more times, hoping for a miracle, but the results remained disappointing.
Seeing this, Su Xinghe understood Mu Jixue had failed, so she turned her attention to the terrified Chen family servants in front of her, hoping to extract some useful information. “Did any of you see anything leave this house? Where did it go?”
The terrified servants all shook their heads vigorously, insisting they really didn’t know anything.
Su Xinghe squinted her eyes, it seemed they could only wait for the Immortal Alliance to come and interrogate these people one by one to perhaps uncover some leads.
Blindly searching for Yun Zhonghe was like looking for a needle in a haystack; it was far too difficult.
—
Meanwhile, after the white-clothed ghost had left, Yun Zhonghe struggled to move his battered body, each movement feeling like being stabbed with a thousand needles, causing him immense pain.
Although his meridians were slowly and automatically healing inside, the pain from deep within his body was still unbearable, like countless flames burning his internal organs, making his consciousness flicker between clarity and confusion.
After a long while, once he regained some composure, he searched the dim cave for his scattered clothes, utterly bare.
He painstakingly picked them up one by one and managed to put them on, then stumbled upon his Xue Yunjian in a corner of the cave.
“Xue Yunjian? Xue Yunjian!”
After several calls, there was no sign of Xue Yunjian responding, and for some reason, he could sense the bond between them had weakened significantly.
Could it be the Yin energy that severed their contract?
Resigned, Yun Zhonghe bit his fingertip, squeezing out a precious drop of bl**d, and carefully dripped it onto the blade of Xue Yunjian, hoping to restore their bond.
As the drop of bl**d fell, a dazzling glow suddenly burst forth, and Xue Yunjian finally responded, beginning to tremble lightly before transforming into human form, reappearing in front of Yun Zhonghe.
