He turned around abruptly, and it was Xu Ye, who had clashed with Ning Ning in the cave.

“Junior Brother Xu.”

Zou Wu examined his gloomy face and couldn’t figure out why this person had suddenly caught up with him. “What’s up?”

Xu Ye gave a cold smile and looked down at him from a higher vantage point. “Don’t you understand? They’re trying to deceive you.”

Right, they all thought he was a big fool who had been deceived.

Zou Wu raised an eyebrow and asked him through voice transmission, “So what?”

The young man in front of him saw his calm expression and finally showed a trace of panic. “You… you didn’t know about this, did you?”

“Isn’t that easy to guess?”

He chuckled complacently, “It’s you who suddenly told me about this matter. You’re probably hoping to get something from me, right?”

“It’s worthy of being a senior brother of the Haoran Sect.”

Xu Ye relaxed a little and unconsciously clenched his fist. “I want to cooperate with you to get the Sky Heart Herb.”

Zou Wu was a bit surprised. “The Sky Heart Herb?”

“Ning Ning has hidden it, and even I don’t know where it is. Soft persuasion won’t work, so if we want to get it, we can only use force.”

He was poisoned and sounded a little confused when speaking, but the sharpness in his brows was still as sharp as a knife. “Although the elders have rules against bullying the weak with strength, that’s only under normal circumstances. If we have a legitimate reason to deal with her, then everything is different.”

“A legitimate reason?”

“This furnace is just a trap. Her real plan is to run away after you deliver the precious grade spirit plants. Xiaochongshan is so big that even if you search for her day and night, you may not find her. But with me, everything will be different.”

Xu Ye’s voice was very cold. “I’ll use a communication talisman to let you know her location, and then you and the others from the Haoran Sect can intercept her. By that time, if Ning Ning becomes the one who swindled the spirit plants and you are the victim… you’ll have every reason to do whatever it takes.”

This was the most sensible plan Zou Wu had heard so far. If he didn’t cooperate with Xu Ye, he would, at best, only obtain a bunch of Celestial Grade spiritual plants, which were nothing compared to the Heaven’s Heart Herb.

However, he hesitated for a moment and added a hint of teasing and probing to his tone. “But… why would you want to cooperate with me?”

“Who doesn’t want the Sky Heart herb? Ning Ning only has two leaves, and there’s no way I can get any. If we cooperate, we can split it in half, and I’ll get one.”

Xu Ye shrugged. “Besides, you’ve seen it. I’ve known those two people for less than a day, and yet she argued with me for a mysterious bewitching cultivator. It seems she’s just a young girl with not much in her head.”

After a brief silence, the sword-cultivating youth suddenly lowered his gaze and revealed a gentler expression: “The most important thing is, if I can give it to my senior sister… she might take a different view of me.”

“Bah! Go to hell with your admiration!”

Outside the mystic mirror, a group of people was dragging an enraged woman. “If Su Qinghan finds out about what you’ve done, she’ll definitely kill you! How did I manage to teach such a disciple? Oh, my poor old back!”

She finished and looked at Tian Xianzi, who was casually sipping tea on the side. “Your disciple got taken advantage of. Aren’t you angry at all?”

Tian Xianzi took a bite of a piece of white jade cake and grinned, “Let’s keep watching. The best part is yet to come.”

—–

In a daze, Rong Ci woke up from a blurry dream and saw two figures not far away.

A vague male voice reached his ears: “So it’s tonight? No problem. Anyway, that little Xu Ye has disappeared somewhere, so it’s just the two of us. I feel more at ease.”

Then came Ning Ning’s voice: “I hope nothing happens to Xu Ye. I didn’t expect him to be so angry… it would be terrible if he encountered danger.”

“Your luck is good.”

He laughed. “This cave actually contains a map of the distribution of the Heaven River Stones, and there’s even one nearby. I heard that this stone is very useful for forging swords, and it’s a rare treasure once in a thousand years.”

Perhaps upon seeing him open his eyes, the other person was startled and choked back the words he hadn’t finished.

“You’re awake!”

Ning Ning’s reaction was much more normal than He Zhizhou’s. Rong Ci could tell that she was genuinely happy. “Is your wound not hurting as much now? You’ve slept for a long time.”

Rong Ci smiled slightly. “I’m sorry, did I disturb you?”

Awkward silence filled the cave.

“No, not at all!”

He Zhizhou chuckled awkwardly. “We were discussing the postnatal care of spiritual beasts, weren’t we, Ning Ning?”

Ning Ning touched her nose and nodded with her head down. It seemed she was really not used to lying, as touching her nose was a telltale sign of uneasiness.

He Zhizhou probably felt a bit awkward. He started to walk towards the cave entrance and hesitantly said, “I’ll go look for Xu Ye. You two can continue your conversation.”

He spoke and then quickly slipped away. Rong Ci raised his gaze slightly and cast a glance at the equally bewildered Ning Ning. There was a hint of a smile in his eyes as he asked, “So, the sword cultivator who doesn’t like me has left?”

Ning Ning blushed in her ear and sat down beside him slowly. “It’s not your fault. I don’t know what’s wrong with Xu Ye. Since this afternoon, he’s been acting weird.”

With He Zhizhou and Xu Ye gone, the cave became exceptionally quiet. The dim light seeped in from outside the cave, capturing the tail end of the darkness. Even the wind’s faint wailing could be heard.

The bewitching cultivator, dressed in crimson, was a vision to behold. In the twilight, his features were obscured by a hazy crimson shade, and even without a word, he could easily capture one’s heart.

Rong Ci quietly observed her for a while and then suddenly spoke, “It’s my fault. When my injuries get better, I’ll leave tomorrow.”

He spoke nonchalantly, even with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, but his expression was filled with profound loneliness.

Unappreciated by the righteous path, bewitching cultivators were often lonely and misunderstood. After a moment of silence, Ning Ning furrowed her brow, pondered for a while, and finally whispered, “Rong Ci, I’m sorry.”

The young man remained silent.

But his heart carried a small, subtle smile.

The fish had taken the bait.

With his level of cultivation, it was impossible for him to be gravely injured by a bear. The reason for the feigned injury was to get closer to the Sky Heart Herb.

He sensed the surge of spiritual energy when the Sky Heart Herb appeared and hurried to the scene, where he witnessed the standoff between Ning Ning and Zou Wu. To secure her trust, he decided to use the ruse.

First, he overheard their conversation and learned that Ning Ning was going to find the Blazing Sunflower. Then he deliberately allowed himself to be injured by the bear, lying down in the Blazing Sunflower grove, waiting for her to bring him back to the cave. By pretending to be helpless and pitiful, he could easily deceive this innocent girl.

Now… even though he still didn’t know the location of the Sky Heart Herb, the mention of the Heaven River Stone had piqued his interest. It was another intriguing treasure.

“I didn’t know before how much animosity there is toward you all. But in my view, there’s no distinction between high and low in each path of cultivation. You’re no different from anyone else.”

She hesitated, and her voice was soft. “I believe in you.”

Rong Ci’s voice softened a bit too, like the finest aged wine, murmuring with a touch of bewilderment and surprise, “You believe in me?”

“Well, I was just talking to He Zhizhou about the Heaven River Stone.”

Ning Ning clenched her sleeve, as if it took a lot of courage to say these words: “We found a distribution map of the Heaven River Stone inside the cave. He didn’t want you to know, but… I believe you don’t have any ill intentions towards us.”

The crimson-clad youth lowered his eyes, and his voice was as smooth as the finest wine, discreetly soaked in a touch of poison. “Heaven River Stone?”

“It’s a Sacred-Grade treasure, just like the Sky Heart Herb.”

She smiled innocently, her tone gentle, devoid of the coldness and detachment others displayed toward bewitching cultivators. It was as if she were having an everyday chat with an ordinary friend. “It’s said to emit light at midnight every day. If we can catch that light, we can find it.”

Rong Ci smiled again. “So, you plan to go tonight?”

“Yes, it’s not far from here, at the Yunlan Slope.”