498: Chapter 498 The Heart of Japan

Saintess Yan Xueyuan had thought the two would have to fight another round.

Suddenly, a figure appeared before her.

Under the moonlight, the girl wore a dark brown dress, adorned with jingling silver ornaments. She was barely over 1.5 meters tall, and her porcelain-doll-like face was devoid of any expression.

Zhu Xuanni's pupils constricted sharply. The Aura emanating from this little girl made her, a Cultivator Undergoing Tribulation, feel it was unfathomable.

It was a kind of pressure she had only felt from a very small number of people—Mahayana!

Yue Xinlan paid no mind to Zhu Xuanni's shock and reached out to grab Saintess Yan Xueyuan's wrist.

Saintess Yan Xueyuan subconsciously wanted to pull her hand back, but Yue Xinlan's fingers were like iron tongs, unmoving.

Saintess Yan Xueyuan couldn't help but turn her head to cast a pleading look at Ling Hao, her cold, glamorous eyes actually carrying a hint of grievance.

Ling Hao smiled and shook his head, signaling that it was fine.

Yue Xinlan closed her eyes, a wisp of Divine Sense probing into Saintess Yan Xueyuan's body. A moment later, she opened her eyes, brows tightly furrowed, and released Saintess Yan Xueyuan's wrist.

Saintess Yan Xueyuan felt as if she had been granted amnesty and hurriedly hid behind Ling Hao, only peeking out half her face.

Ling Hao asked: "What did you find?"

Yue Xinlan glanced at Zhu Xuanni and said calmly: "We'll talk about it when we get back."

Ling Hao understood and turned to Saintess Yan Xueyuan:

"Rest well; I will come to see you tomorrow."

Saintess Yan Xueyuan and Gan Yiyi nodded simultaneously, both of their gazes landing on the newly appeared Yue Xinlan and Deputy Sect Master Yu Lingshuang.

Upon seeing Deputy Sect Master Yu Lingshuang, Saintess Yan Xueyuan understood.

This little girl likely belonged to the Moon Shadow Holy Land as well.

Although... Saintess Yan Xueyuan had guessed wrong.

Ling Hao's group of three departed. Zhu Xuanni also turned and left, her footsteps heavy. After tonight, she was already caught in the game, with no way out.

Suxin Peak, a small bamboo-fenced courtyard.

The three of them sat around a stone table, moonlight filtering through bamboo leaves to cast dappled shadows.

Yue Xinlan no longer avoided the topic and spoke directly:

"The Mahayana Heart inside Saintess Yan Xueyuan belongs to Fusang. I recognize her Aura."

As soon as Saintess Yan Xueyuan appeared, Yue Xinlan had sensed a faint, familiar Aura, and eventually locked onto her.

Ling Hao and Deputy Sect Master Yu Lingshuang were both stunned and shocked.

Fusang Supreme used her own heart to suppress the Ancient Demon Heart? What on earth had happened?

Yue Xinlan paused, then continued: "This Golden Crow Saintess's body is not human; it is Fusang wood."

Deputy Sect Master Yu Lingshuang frowned:

"Fusang wood? According to the news Revered Master sent back earlier, the Fusang wood in Tanggu Kingdom is indeed gone, leaving only the stump. So her true form is that piece of Fusang wood? A puppet that gained consciousness?"

Yue Xinlan nodded: "Exactly so."

Ling Hao was thoughtful:

"This is indeed a spirit puppet carved from spirit wood that has gained consciousness. But I did not expect it to be Fusang wood?"

The corner of Yue Xinlan's mouth twitched imperceptibly, and she immediately looked at Ling Hao with extreme disdain:

"You did that thing with her?"

"She has consciousness—"

"Puppet."

"She is already aliv—"

"Puppet."

"At least she is a spirit puppet."

"Puppet."

Ling Hao: ... Speechless.

Deputy Sect Master Yu Lingshuang also realized what was happening, her gaze sweeping back and forth over Ling Hao several times, before she, too, revealed the same look of disdain.

Ling Hao still wanted to defend himself:

"Although she has a wooden body, her consciousness is complete, and her emotions are real. You cannot look at her like that—"

Deputy Sect Master Yu Lingshuang silently took a sip of tea, expressionless:

"Sect Master, you really impress me more and more. I didn't nitpick about the Merfolk Race, but now you can even lay a hand on this?"

"Tonight, I must properly discipline you and correct your increasingly outrageous aesthetic."

Ling Hao curled his lip. I think you just want to, and you call it discipline! Who's afraid of whom?

...

The guest room of the bamboo-fenced courtyard was not large; warm yellow candlelight filtered through the window paper, casting two overlapping shadows.

Occasional whispers came from the room, interspersed with a few suppressed sounds, along with Deputy Sect Master Yu Lingshuang's cold yet slightly indignant voice.

"Sect Master, when did your aesthetic... become so twisted?"

It was possible it had been this way from the beginning.

Ling Hao seemed to say something else, and Deputy Sect Master Yu Lingshuang's voice grew a bit higher.

"You still dare to talk back? Punishment for backtalk! I heard that at White Rock Holy Land, you even did... for those disciples of yours..."

On the bamboo steps beneath the pavilion, Yue Xinlan sat hugging her knees, her small face buried between them.

Her expression was annoyed as she glared at the teapot on the stone table nearby that hadn't been put away yet, as if she were picking a fight with it.

Yue Xinlan had been sitting there for a full incense stick's time. It wasn't that she hadn't thought about leaving, but... she was curious.

A thought inexplicably surfaced in her mind; throughout this journey, she hadn't infrequently been mistaken for the daughter of Ling Hao and the others.

In this situation, didn't it look like a daughter eavesdropping on her parents...

Bah! Definitely not! She was not their daughter!

The faint, fragmented sounds from inside the room continued to drift out intermittently.

Yue Xinlan: "..."

The next morning, Ling Hao pushed the door open and came out.

Deputy Sect Master Yu Lingshuang followed closely behind, her expression as cold as usual, though the faint smile on her lips could not be suppressed. She asked softly:

"Did Sect Master sleep well last night?"

"Pretty good, didn't sleep all night."

Yue Xinlan looked at the two of them and snorted coldly: "Can you two be more careful? Am I not a person?"

Ling Hao looked at Yue Xinlan, who had dew on her shoulders, and the corners of his mouth curled up,

"As a Mahayana Supreme, can't you just block it if you don't want to hear it? Isn't it because you like..."

"Shut up!"

Yue Xinlan released her Mahayana-level Aura without reservation.

"Freeze!"

Ling Hao acted in time, which saved this small courtyard from catastrophe.

Tsk, really can't take a joke.

The sun was high in the sky.

An Ruosu led her mother, Sect Master An Suxin, to the small courtyard on Suxin Peak.

Ling Hao also met An Ruosu's mother.

She wore a deep green wide-sleeved long dress, her black hair loosely pinned up with a green jade hairpin, her figure plump and dignified.

As Sect Master An Suxin walked through the bamboo fence, her gaze swept across the courtyard—the winding stream, the stone arch bridge, the green bamboo—everything was elegant and serene. Three people were sitting at the stone table.

She bowed respectfully to the three of them,

"Moon Shadow Sect Master has come from afar. An Suxin, excuse my rudeness."

Ling Hao returned the bow: "Sect Master An, you are too polite."

An Ruosu stood behind her mother, secretly lifting her eyes to look at Ling Hao, then quickly lowered her head.

After some pleasantries, Sect Master An Suxin and Ling Hao went into the front hall.

Sect Master An Suxin took a palm-sized square cauldron from her Magical Artifact and placed it gently on the stone table.

The cauldron's body was a deep green, nearly black, and felt heavy to the touch, as if holding a mountain. Thunder patterns were carved on each of its four sides; when spiritual power was injected, the thunder patterns lit up in sequence, and the faint sound of thunder could be heard from the belly of the cauldron, with tiny sparks of electricity jumping between its ears.

"This is the zhen cauldron."

Sect Master An Suxin pushed the cauldron toward Ling Hao,

"I am willing to trade this cauldron for one instance of protection for my daughter, Ruosu."

Ling Hao took the zhen cauldron, feeling the power of thunder contained within its palm, and nodded slightly.

When Ling Hao put the zhen cauldron away, Sect Master An Suxin took out a scroll.

In the painting, a man in a green shirt stood with his hands behind his back, his brows clear and open, the corners of his lips slightly raised.

Ling Hao looked at the painting, his expression subtle.

I haven't even said it yet, and you've already taken it out?

"Sect Master An, your painting skills are truly remarkable. But I would like to know why you painted me?"