4: Chapter 4 Now I want to

Inside a small woods outside Liuling Town.

"Senior Brother Wang, are we just leaving like this? What if he's a fake?"

Gao Dasha rubbed the back of his head. He kept feeling that there was something wrong with that handsome and dashing man, but he didn't know exactly where the problem lay.

Wang Duoyin looked at Gao Dasha as if he were an idiot.

"Junior Brother Gao, you said it yourself—what if. But what if that man is real? Can you or I afford to offend him?"

Wang Duoyin shook his head, recalling the scene where Ling Hao had just carried Chi Wanhe away.

In truth, Wang Duoyin was already basically certain that Ling Hao was a Disciple of the Huoyan Sect. After all, this guy looked even more arrogant than he was, carrying that woman off right in front of so many people. He was truly worthy of being a Disciple of a third-grade Sect; he was a ruthless person!

Gao Dasha nodded, then suddenly asked:

"By the way, Senior Brother Wang, why did you force that woman to join the Sect earlier?"

"Why do you have so many questions?"

Wang Duoyin looked impatient and turned around, wanting to slap his foolish Junior Brother.

Unfortunately, he was too short and couldn't reach.

Looking down at Wang Duoyin's gloomy expression, Gao Dasha sensibly covered his head and crouched down.

"Thump!"

Seeing this, Wang Duoyin's expression eased, and he punched Gao Dasha hard on the head, snorting coldly.

"Hmph! I wanted her, is that okay?"

Who told that woman to have some beauty, and who told her to happen to have the Heart-Clearing Talisman he needed.

And most importantly, the Young Sect Master had instructed him to keep an eye out for women who carried the scent of astragalus.

"Okay! Okay!"

Gao Dasha rubbed his head and chuckled foolishly.

"Forget it. Let's go, we're heading to the next town."

Senior Brother Wang waved his hand. He remembered encountering another woman with the scent of astragalus not long ago; he would just offer her to the Young Sect Master when the time came.

As for this woman targeted by the Huoyan Sect Disciple, he would just give up on her.

...

Tianyuan Mountain.

The setting sun slanted westward, its afterglow like fire, coating the archway in front of the Moonshadow Sect's mountain gate in a layer of gold. Behind the archway, pavilions and towers were layered and scattered in an orderly fashion, their upturned eaves outlining a beautiful skyline in the twilight.

"Hey, hey, hey, I was wrong, stop crying, I really am not a Disciple of the Huoyan Sect."

In front of the mountain gate, Ling Hao looked helpless. He put Chi Wanhe down from his shoulder, patted the dust off her clothes, and pointed to the three vigorous and powerful characters "Moonshadow Sect" on the tall archway in front of them.

"See those three big characters? I'm not pretending anymore, I'm laying my cards on the table: I am the Sect Master of the Moonshadow Sect!"

However, Chi Wanhe didn't care at all what Ling Hao said. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she immediately turned and ran, bolting away from the mountain gate.

"Hey! Wait!" Before Ling Hao could finish speaking, a soft "thud" was heard.

"Ouch!"

Chi Wanhe had slammed into an invisible barrier. She stumbled back a few steps, reaching out to rub her forehead while grimacing. Only then did she notice that the surrounding air was twisting and deforming, and a translucent energy barrier could vaguely be seen enveloping the entire peak of Tianyuan Mountain.

"Pro... Protective Sect Array?"

She widened her almond-shaped eyes, her small face filled with shock and uncertainty.

Turning around, Chi Wanhe subconsciously looked up. Above the magnificent archway, the three ancient and vigorous characters "Moonshadow Sect" seemed to carry an invisible pressure, directly reflecting into her eyes.

Behind the archway were rolling, cloud-shrouded pavilions and towers; the magnificent buildings revealed a solemn and ethereal immortal atmosphere in the twilight.

This scene left Chi Wanhe instantly stunned in place, her small mouth slightly agape.

Ling Hao hadn't expected that after putting Chi Wanhe down, she would just start running.

"See? I told you I wasn't a Disciple of the Huoyan Sect. You believe me now, right?"

Ling Hao walked to Chi Wanhe's side and reached out to hold her.

Chi Wanhe stepped back a few paces, cautiously looking around.

The Protective Sect Array, the three characters for Moonshadow Sect on the archway, the magnificent complex of buildings—all of this was confirming the man's words from earlier.

This was not the Huoyan Sect; from the grandeur, it didn't look like the style of the Huoyan Sect. It was said that the buildings of the Huoyan Sect were all fiery red.

Chi Wanhe recalled the scene in Liuling Town where this man had carried her off, and her voice involuntarily carried a trace of trembling.

"Then why did you bring me here?"

Ling Hao stood where he was.

"I said it before: I want you to join my Moonshadow Sect."

"I..."

Chi Wanhe subconsciously wanted to blurt out "I don't have a Spiritual Root," but swallowed the words back.

She lowered her head, her fingertips uneasily rubbing the inside of her right arm, as if confirming something.

When she looked up again, those large, lively eyes held a trace of anticipation.

"Then... if I become a Disciple of your Moonshadow Sect, can you provide me with anti-corrosion grass?"

Wanting anti-corrosion grass was to clear the erosion qi in her body, right?

Ling Hao thought to himself. I don't have anti-corrosion grass, but I have the Sheng-Sheng Creation Spring!

"I can!"

"Really?!"

Chi Wanhe's eyes lit up instantly. She excitedly took a small step forward, almost grabbing Ling Hao's sleeve.

"Then I want it now! Is that okay?"

Without anti-corrosion grass, she had no idea how much longer she could hold on. That erosion qi was like a maggot on a bone, gnawing away day and night, capable of dragging her into the abyss at any moment, turning her into...

At this moment, she suddenly realized an abnormality in her body—that cold, gnawing pain of the erosion qi that had tortured her to the bone day and night... was actually gone?!

Chi Wanhe stiffened abruptly, subconsciously taking a few deep breaths. That omnipresent erosion qi in the air... had disappeared?!

How could this be possible?! How could there still be a place in this world without erosion qi?!

Chi Wanhe stared fixedly at Ling Hao, her lips slightly parted, wanting to ask for an explanation:

"You... this place of yours..."

She had just started to ask when her body suddenly swayed, and then she collapsed forward, limp.

Ling Hao was quick-witted and fast-handed, taking a swift step forward to wrap his arm around Chi Wanhe's waist and pull her into his embrace.

A rich scent of astragalus rushed towards him, mixed with a hint of eerie, decaying Aura in its sweetness, making one dizzy.

He looked down and couldn't help but gasp. On the girl's fair cheeks, tiny silver scales were spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye, refracting an eerie luster under the setting sun—both beautiful and terrifying.

"Erosion Demon?"

Ling Hao's pupils contracted sharply, his voice becoming low and hoarse.

According to what Ling Hao understood, if the erosion qi in a human body accumulated to the extreme, the body would collapse and die. But there was also a very small probability that the body might undergo various mutations.

This mutated existence was called an Erosion Demon.

Erosion Demons generally had no reason at all; they would crazily attack everything with signs of life. Therefore, everyone had the right to punish them!

Ling Hao had only ever heard of them; he never expected that the first Erosion Demon he encountered would actually be his own Sect Disciple?

Almost at the same moment, a white sword light shot out from the depths of the Sect like lightning.

It was the cold woman Ling Hao had saved that night. Her face was as cold as frost, her gaze as sharp as a knife. Upon seeing the silver scales on Chi Wanhe's cheeks, a look of realization appeared on her face.

The cold woman didn't say a word; she placed one hand on Chi Wanhe's shoulder and grabbed her wrist with the other, taking her up into the air on her sword.

Ling Hao stared blankly at the back of Yu Lingshuang as she carried Chi Wanhe away in a hurry, her white clothes fluttering and her long hair dancing.

In the twilight, Ling Hao gently rubbed the lingering scent of astragalus on his wrist and muttered to himself:

"Is this her choosing to stay?"

The corners of his mouth curled into an arc. Ling Hao took a step, and the next moment, his figure disappeared from the spot.