77: You are free.

In the early morning, Fang Huai woke up and surprisingly found that Li Sirou hadn't stayed in bed. Instead, she had already prepared a meal.

"You're awake? I thought you were dead!"

Li Sirou's face was full of disdain, having returned to her usual annoying self.

Fang Huai looked at the table full of charred food and rolled his eyes:

"It's been seven years, and your culinary skills haven't improved at all. You truly are a piece of rotten wood that cannot be carved.

The bloodstains from last night haven't been cleaned up yet; I see you're looking for a punishment!"

Sensing the aura on Li Sirou, he asked in confusion, "Spiritual energy sealed? You restricted the Spirit Binding Curse yourself?"

Li Sirou smiled and said, "That's right. Wasn't it because I was afraid you'd worry about me rebelling and trying to take you down with me?"

Fang Huai didn't have time to bicker with her. He had already picked up his chopsticks and was carefully tasting the food when a wave of heat came from his Identity Token.

Didn't they say inner Sect members wouldn't receive mandatory missions? Why has another mission arrived so quickly!

He immersed his mind into it, and it was a notification from the Sect:

【Grateful to Heaven and Earth for resolving old grievances, our Sect and the Profound Sword Sect have turned swords into plowshares. We shall exchange prisoners to commemorate Heaven's grace.

All Disciples must deliver their kept prisoners to the Sect's East Mountain Gate before noon tomorrow.

Those who privately damage or destroy prisoners will be punished by Soul Extraction.】

Exchanging prisoners?

Seeing him dazed, Li Sirou spoke up: "Hey, isn't it just swapping a few demon bones? How did it break your brain?"

"You are free."

"What?"

"Li Sirou, you are free."

Fang Huai repeated the information from the token.

*Clatter—*

The broom in Li Sirou's hand slipped. Her legs trembled so violently she couldn't stand, and she fell to the floor.

Fang Huai walked over to Li Sirou and helped her up.

Seeing her eyes turn red and large tears fall, he smiled and wiped the tears from her face:

"Do Profound Sword Sect Cultivators all like to cry? With this attitude, you won't be able to defeat the Corpse Fiend Sect."

Li Sirou gave a light snort: "You still dare to tease me? Once I return to my Sect, I will surely report you to the Sect Elders and charge you with the crime of sabotaging the relationship between our two Sects."

"Then I can't let you go. I'll just kill you right here."

"You wouldn't dare!"

————

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

A series of urgent knocks came from the door: "Senior Brother Fang, open the door quickly!"

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Luo Heng!"

Fang Huai gathered spiritual energy at his fingertips to sense the person outside the door.

Only after sensing the other's aura did he feel slightly relieved and open the door.

What was this guy looking for him for?

"Senior Brother Fang, someone asked me to give this talisman to you."

Luo Heng pushed the door open and entered. His bones were protruding outwards, and his flesh was covered in many needle and thread marks, clearly the effects of the Four Elephant Shattering Body Evil Qi.

"Junior Brother Luo, your health seems poor," Fang Huai said, feigning surprise.

Luo Heng sighed: "I'm afraid I've suffered some Qi Deviation. Although I've stopped my cultivation, it hasn't improved."

After the two exchanged pleasantries, Luo Heng handed a sound storage talisman to Fang Huai and glanced at Li Sirou.

Seeing this, Li Sirou tactfully turned her back.

"The person who asked me to bring this message told you that you must stay in your residence tonight, and the contents of the talisman must not be revealed to anyone."

Luo Heng's eyes were deep as he limped out of the room.

Fang Huai sank his mind into the talisman, which immediately turned into dust. At the same time, a piece of information appeared in his Sea of Consciousness:

【Tonight, the karma mother mirror will be destroyed. At that time, someone will pretend to assassinate you. You need to cooperate and fake a struggle, and finally let them kill the Profound Sword Sect prisoner.】

The Ascension Society wants to destroy the karma mother mirror?

Fang Huai was greatly shocked. When he left the Tianyuan Secret Realm, the Foundation Establishment Elder had used the Karma Child Mirror to inspect the Disciples.

Once the Mother Mirror was destroyed, the Child Mirror would also lose its function.

If someone were to kill and steal souls then, no trace could ever be found.

As for Li Sirou, Fang Huai looked at her. For the Ascension Society to stir up such trouble at this critical juncture, they must want to sow discord between the Corpse Fiend Sect and the Profound Sword Sect.

If Li Sirou didn't die, it would surely make the Ascension Society suspicious.

If Li Sirou died, setting aside whether the Sect would punish him, the Profound Sword Sect would certainly not let him go.

He didn't believe the Profound Sword Sect would be unable to investigate the life or death of a Sect Elder's daughter.

The Ascension Society still had use for him, so they would surely have a way to protect him.

But if he cooperated with the Ascension Society, he would completely lose the Sect's trust and could only rely solely on the Ascension Society.

What a malicious scheme!

"bad person."

Just as Fang Huai was frowning in thought, Li Sirou spoke softly:

"bad person, I'm about to leave. Can you accompany me to the Red Leaf Market one more time?"

...Fang Huai applied the Light Body Technique to both of them.

With the enhancement of the Minor Achievement Light Body Technique, it took them only an hour to reach the Red Leaf Market.

As usual, they hired a 'Market Rat,' but their target this time was the mundane goods area.

Having been cooped up in Fang Huai's residence for seven years, Li Sirou, who was about to regain her freedom, was exceptionally excited.

"bad person, buy a stick of Candied Haws. When my mother was alive, she always bought them for me."

"bad person, does this Colorful Silk Dress look good? How about pairing it with the crimson gold phoenix hairpin you gave me?"

"bad person, there are youth preservation pills there. Before I left the Sect, I always wanted to buy one, but I couldn't bear to spend the Spirit Stones. I didn't expect that such a precious Medicinal Pill in the Profound Sword Sect would only cost five thousand contribution points in the Corpse Fiend Sect."

"bad person, are you listening to me?"

"..."

Fang Huai patiently accompanied Li Sirou through several areas.

Seeing that Fang Huai's cultivation was quite high and that he was with a female companion, the stall owners concluded he wouldn't be stingy and began introducing the best goods they had hidden away.

The wide variety of mundane items made Li Sirou let out exclamations from time to time.

For a moment, Fang Huai had the feeling that he wasn't in a dangerous demonic Sect.

Until dusk, Li Sirou's enthusiasm still hadn't waned, but Fang Huai spoke up:

"It's time to go back."

Li Sirou froze: "bad person, I was very happy today."

...Late at night, Fang Huai and Li Sirou sat on opposite sides of the table.

Li Sirou wore the crimson gold phoenix hairpin and had changed into the new clothes she bought today; she was quite pretty.

Fang Huai secretly sighed. Over the past seven years, every time he saw her, her face was covered in black soot.

Now that she was washed and dressed up, she actually had an ethereal, celestial feel.

"Fang Huai, aren't you going to do something?" Li Sirou asked.

"Do what?" Fang Huai asked in confusion.

"Do what you want to do."

Li Sirou stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Shouldn't a Righteous Path Cultivator like me be used up completely, with every last bit of value squeezed out?"

"What kind of crazy are you acting?" Fang Huai pushed Li Sirou's arms away. "Don't even think about framing me. If the Profound Sword Sect finds out your chastity mark has disappeared, they'll surely skin me alive."

Li Sirou shook her head. "I'm about to die anyway; will I even be able to leave behind an intact corpse?"

Fang Huai frowned. "Who said you're going to die?"

Just as he was about to ask further, he heard the sound of countless Spells exploding in the distance.

The Ascension Society has made their move?

In just a moment, the sounds of slaughter spread across Skinning Peak.

If the information in the sound storage talisman was true, then killing someone now would make it difficult to trace the Karma.

In case they took the opportunity to attack him... he slapped his Storage Pouch, stuck several defensive talismans on his body, and swallowed several Spirit Stones to prevent running out of spiritual energy during the fight.

He couldn't leave the initiative to others.

He looked back at Li Sirou, but her expression was surprisingly calm.

What on earth was this woman thinking?