#64: Snatching

Bian Lingyu brought Shi Luoyi back. As Cangwu ran over from a distance, before he could react, he was tackled into the yellow sand by Bian Lingyu.

A chill ran down Cangwu's neck, scaring him into transforming into his beast form, narrowly avoiding the attack.

The two fought fiercely for a while. Under Bian Lingyu's oppressive aura, Cangwu trembled but had no choice but to grit his teeth and fight back. Shi Luoyi didn’t know how the fight suddenly started either, so she hurriedly stepped in to separate them.

After a long while of staring at her, then glancing at Cangwu, the Qilin finally turned and left.

Shi Luoyi was puzzled: “He was fine on the way back just now. Why did he attack you the moment he saw you?”

“…” Cangwu was also confused. After a while, he thought of a possibility that made him feel terrible.

Bian Lingyu was currently in an uncivilized state. In his eyes, Shi Luoyi was a female without feathers or scales, and Cangwu was a male.

In nature, when a male and female live together, there’s only one possible explanation: they are a couple.

“He probably thinks we’re married… That’s why he’s so hostile towards me, right?”

This was absolutely terrifying. In Bian Lingyu’s eyes, they were a pair of thieving couples trying to rob him of his power!

Upon hearing his analysis, Shi Luoyi was also stunned. She was both amused and exasperated, not expecting the uncivilized beast’s perspective to be so brutally simple.

Unfortunately, Cangwu couldn’t leave.

With fierce winds everywhere, even someone as stubborn as Cangwu couldn’t leave this safe area. Now, Shi Luoyi found this situation quite tricky.

Fortunately, starting from that night, Bian Lingyu didn’t stay near the house but also didn’t go too far away.

It seemed like he was observing them.

After several days of maneuvering, Shi Luoyi discovered something even more difficult: the uncivilized Bian Lingyu responded better to gentleness than force. At first, she thought it would be simple—she could capture Bian Lingyu, use a magical artifact to temporarily turn him human, and return the divine pearl after a few tries.

But now she understood: the Qilin race was born proud and aloof. If she tried to capture him and force him into submission, Bian Lingyu would rather kill her on the spot than let her succeed.

The reason she succeeded a year ago was purely because Bian Lingyu admired her. Otherwise, such a humiliation would have led to her blood splattering the scene.

When Bian Lingyu said that if they ever provoked him again, one of them would die first—he wasn’t joking at all.

With no other options, Shi Luoyi could only proceed slowly. She began pondering how Bian Lingyu fell in love with her eleven years ago. Thus, one day, when Bian Lingyu opened his eyes, he was met with a pair of eyes gentler than moonlight, smiling warmly at him.

She lay atop a sand dune, making no move to attack him, just smiling.

Bian Lingyu locked eyes with those bright orbs, unsure of what this feeling was, instinctively feeling repelled and fleeing from her.

The girl watched his retreating figure without chasing after him, only explaining: “Cangwu and I are just friends. I don’t intend to hurt you.”

Bian Lingyu didn’t look back, uncertain whether he heard or believed her.

However, she came again the next day, this time bringing a bamboo tube filled with purified air and anti-magic gas. She gazed at him from the sand dune.

The fluttering silk around the girl almost got sliced by the fierce wind. She widened her eyes in surprise, and Bian Lingyu growled to drive her away.

Still, she didn’t forget to push the bamboo tube closer before leaving.

Bian Lingyu didn’t touch the purified air, but when Shi Luoyi went to retrieve the bamboo tube, she wasn’t disappointed. Whenever she had time, she practiced cultivation, and after finishing, she told stories to Bian Lingyu.

Eleven years ago, she often did this too. Back then, amidst the desolation of corpses littering the Wandering Sea, despair filling the air, unable to find her father, she told small motivational stories from her mother’s childhood to encourage them.

To keep them going, and to keep herself going.

Those fantastical tales drew disdainful looks from the little red snake, but the silver-white Qilin always watched her quietly.

He didn’t understand anything, yet listened attentively.

Now, Shi Luoyi spoke to the hillside: “Yesterday, I mentioned Xu Jiaoniang wanting to apprentice under a sect, but the sect only accepts disciples under fourteen, and she’s already eighteen. How can she enter the sect…?”

Over there, the silver-white figure shifted faintly.

Shi Luoyi secretly curved her lips.

…So easy to fool. Eleven years ago, Shi Luoyi never understood this simplicity and sincerity. Now, she understood, and it softened her heart inexplicably.

Cangwu muttered: “Degraded to this extent, he won’t understand these stories.”

Shi Luoyi ignored Cangwu. She was full of determination. The fact that Bian Lingyu hadn’t left proved he was willing to hear her voice.

Sometimes when Shi Luoyi didn’t see him for a while, fearing that Bian Lingyu might wander too far and get torn apart by the fierce winds, she called out: “Bian Lingyu!”

Often, she didn’t have to wait long before a silver-white figure emerged from the yellow sand, rising to look at her from afar.

Shi Luoyi felt reassured. The Qilin stared at her for a while, seeing she was fine, just calling out to him, then buried his head again, ignoring her once more.

So aloof.

Who knew what he was thinking? With his current simplistic and brutal mind, had he resolved the misunderstanding about Cangwu?

Bian Lingyu and Shi Luoyi maintained a delicate balance, neither too close nor too distant, refraining from fighting, sustaining a subtle understanding.

Under this atmosphere, even Cangwu couldn’t stay tense.

Following the map drawn by Shi Luoyi, Cangwu secretly returned to the boundary marker. Wow! He saw a dense crowd of Su Li’s people surrounding the area. If he dared to step out, he would be pounded into meat paste.

Outside, they continued talking about demonic corruption, unaware of what Su Li had done outside. Now, they clearly labeled Bian Lingyu and the others as “Zhu Yan”-like beings.

Cangwu had no choice but to retreat temporarily.

He originally feared that Su Li would recklessly charge into the Wandering Sea to hunt them down. After spending some time in the Wandering Sea, he finally understood why Bian Lingyu made them retreat here.

Because Su Li wouldn’t come—the place was deadly!

Ten thousand years ago, this place imprisoned countless demons. After the ancient deity Ji Ze’s soul dissipated, who knows how many deities’ and demons’ bones were buried here. Magic energy was everywhere. Even with houses and artifacts to resist the magic energy, their cultivation still visibly dropped.

Cangwu didn’t want to move now. His entire body was like a sieve, leaking cultivation. He had no doubt that after a while, even the mighty Cangwu beast would be reduced to the level of a Golden Core cultivator!

Precisely because of this, few dared to enter this death trap. They were very safe.

Cangwu slumped into a lazy existence, adapting to circumstances.

One day, as Shi Luoyi had just fallen asleep, several Blood Fiends darted out of the yellow sand, heading straight for the small hut. Shi Luoyi instantly tensed; once inside the body, these things would drain a person’s essence and blood.

As she rose, a silver shadow blocked the path to the small hut.

The Qilin’s flesh and blood contained divine power, quickly dispelling the foul creatures born in this accursed land.

Bian Lingyu was about to head to the hillside when a pair of pale arms hugged the bone spike he used to kill the Blood Fiends.

He flinched slightly, but couldn’t pull away.

The young girl opened her bright eyes wide and clung tightly to the broken bone spike. Their eyes met for a moment, and she nuzzled her face against the spike, silently thanking him for protecting her.

Bian Lingyu stood there for a long time, his eyes still cold and distant.

But he didn’t move.

In the end, the bone spike slowly descended to wrap hesitantly around the girl's waist, lingering briefly before releasing her again.

Cangwu cowered inside the hut, not daring to breathe loudly. It knew that uncivilized beasts and spirit creatures only protected females under one condition.

Bian Lingyu paced restlessly in place for a while before finally withdrawing the spike and retreating back to the small hill.

Shi Luoyi, unfamiliar with the habits of beasts and spirit creatures, remained confused about his intentions.

She sat by the bed, pondering for a long while without reaching any conclusion, eventually falling asleep.

Only Cangwu, reflecting on its own primal instincts, murmured to itself: "Good heavens, could he be contemplating whether to snatch my 'female'?"

And he had guessed correctly.

After enduring two more days, on the third day, Bian Lingyu suddenly attacked, chasing Cangwu into a panicked retreat.

"You’re serious?!"

Shi Luoyi was dumbfounded. By the time she came to her senses, she was already being carried far away by the Qilin.

Anticipating what might happen, she didn’t resist. She raised her hand belatedly to shield her face from the swirling yellow sand.

After running for an unknown amount of time, Shi Luoyi grew increasingly tense as Bian Lingyu evaded the fierce winds. Her heart raced wildly, and even after being placed on a flat sand dune, her heartbeat refused to calm.

Her gaze met a pair of silver pupils.

By now, even Cangwu had figured it out, and so had she.

The uncivilized young Qilin lowered his head to look at her. Her throat felt dry. The Qilin clan wasn't domineering—she remembered her father telling her ancient tales where they were aloof yet auspicious deities. Although he understood nothing now, he had still resorted to "snatching."

Even if it went against his bloodline and instincts.

But for the first time, she truly grasped how much he adored her—enough to defy both his lineage and innate nature.

Bian Lingyu’s bone spike wrapped around Shi Luoyi’s waist once more, this time holding on longer, though still with some hesitation.

Meeting his gaze, Shi Luoyi, understanding his mindset, refrained from explaining further and calmly encouraged him: "Mm, if you’ve snatched me, I’m yours."

This statement seemed to resonate with him, as the grip around her waist tightened.

When her skirt was instinctively lifted, and he lowered his head to examine her, Shi Luoyi caught sight of the divine entity within. During their primal form, it had been concealed somewhere, but now, moved by passion, it emerged from within him.

She glanced at it, unable to feel shy, her face turning pale. As he prepared to proceed directly, she trembled and scrambled away: "You… wait a moment, I’ll die!"

Though death seemed inevitable either way, she certainly didn’t want to meet her end like this!

Fumbling in her interspatial pouch, she nervously pulled out a magical artifact and slipped it over him.

In an instant, the silvery-white Qilin transformed into a handsome man with refined features, his expression still aloof as he gazed at her.

Shi Luoyi took a deep breath: "If you dare to break free, we’ll part ways forever. Even if I have to consume demon pills, I won’t do this with you…"

Whether he fully understood or not, she couldn’t tell.

But as the moon swayed and shattered before her eyes, Shi Luoyi’s mind went blank. His jet-black hair flowed like water, trembling in her grasp.

Her back burned against the scorching sand, feeling as if her body would shatter apart.

She trembled, thinking that if he reverted to his beast form now, she’d surely meet a terrible fate. The bravest thing she’d ever done wasn’t venturing alone into the Wandering Sea eleven years ago—it was actually daring to do this with him!

Moments later, her thoughts became chaotic. Thankfully, they weren’t in that rickety old hut; the fragile bed wouldn’t have withstood much.

Yellow sand invaded her hair as she was pushed and jostled. Shattered moonlight danced before her eyes.

For the first time, Shi Luoyi experienced what such an act truly entailed.

She bit her lip, yearning for it to end quickly, yet finding it entirely different from the last time.

Watching him rise and fall, she felt like a small boat tossed between waves, utterly helpless.

Shi Luoyi finally understood why the woman in the grass during the Flower Festival had emitted those sounds.

As she was flipped over, her eyes widened, sweat dripping from her forehead: "Bian Lingyu... no, no..."

Tears welled up in her eyes. How obedient and composed Bian Lingyu usually was, and now, how unrestrained he had become.

"You..." she opened her mouth, nearly choking on sand.

Her voice cracked. Finally, she collapsed onto her arms, muffling groans, praying for it to end swiftly.

The divine pearl stirred within her. Closing her eyes, she realized the night was still long.

Su Li awoke once again from a nightmare.

The fragments of the Future Mirror in his arms were burning hot.

He had never intended to descend to the mortal realm. When his mother banished Bian Lingyu, Su Li believed himself to be the supreme ruler of the divine domain.

Without his soul, Bian Lingyu was forced to slay countless fallen demons—a near-impossible task riddled with peril.

Yet Su Li was inherently suspicious. Upon acquiring the divine domain’s treasure, the shattered Future Mirror, he initially rejoiced when he saw that Bian Lingyu had lost his divine pearl.

However, unease soon crept in. Upon inspecting the mirror again, he discovered a vision of a figure clad in battle armor returning to slaughter through the divine domain.

Drenched in cold sweat, Su Li immediately resolved to personally leave the divine domain and deal with him.

Now, the Future Mirror was heating up again. Even though that person had been driven to the burial grounds of gods within the Wandering Sea.

Su Li rose, dressing himself. His gentle demeanor turned dark, and a group of Shengyang Sect disciples rushed in anxiously: "Master, is something the matter?"

Su Li lowered his gaze, a faint murderous intent flickering in his eyes: "To Hengwu Sect."

Even if he couldn’t enter the Wandering Sea himself, he would send others in. Otherwise, he wouldn’t find peace at night.

All because of that wretched Bian Qingxuan! Otherwise, he would’ve captured them long ago.

Su Li sneered: "Deliver my regards to Qingxuan on my behalf."

Qian Jingyi smiled: "Yes."

Within the dim dungeon, Qian Jingyi strode toward the tortured woman, lifting her chin: "I always said there would come a day when you’d fall into my hands, Bian Qingxuan. Weren’t you always so arrogant? Now, why do you look like a stray dog?"

His lackeys behind him burst into laughter.

Bian Qingxuan bore the marks of whipping. As Qian Jingyi approached, she merely smirked coldly, spitting a mouthful of bloody saliva onto his face before letting out a derisive laugh.

Qian Jingyi hadn’t expected her defiance even now. His face darkened: "Give it to me."

His henchmen hastily handed over the items in their possession.

They were two silver hooks, glinting coldly in the darkness.

Qian Jingyi smirked, his hand tightening cruelly as the silver hooks pierced through Bian Qingxuan’s collarbone.