Chapter 161: The First Glimpse of the Wind and Thunder Nine Swords

In the end, Ji Yao did not receive a precise answer from the other party. Instead, she was met with a thoughtful look from Mu Baiyun.

"What other legends has Junior Sister heard?"

Well, cross-examining the romantic rumors of the protagonist as depicted in gossip seemed to Ji Yao like a more reliable way to get to the truth, though she could not completely rule out deliberate misinformation by the parties involved.

Since they were in a rush, Ji Yao did not mind continuing their journey on a flying sword, though this time Mu Baiyun thoughtfully widened the surface of the sword.

Standing behind Mu Baiyun, she could not see his expression, but judging by his voice, he did not sound angry, so Ji Yao plucked up the courage to speak.

"There is also the Fairy Qiaoxin of the Profound Mystery Sect, whom Senior Brother mentioned last time. Senior Brother Yun must be quite familiar with her as well!"

Back then, Lu Ming had indeed mentioned that the Snow Dust Sword she now possessed had been custom-made precisely because Mu Baiyun had pulled some strings with Fairy Qiaoxin.

If she had still retained some skepticism upon first hearing these gossips, Senior Brother's personal testimony from last time made Ji Yao realize that rumors might not be entirely true, but they were rarely without some foundation.

The relationship between Mu Baiyun and Fairy Qiaoxin was definitely out of the ordinary.

"I never knew that Junior Sister cared so much about my personal affairs!"

Exchanging a glance and confirming that it was not an illusion, the two of them finally began to take this otherwise unremarkable wooden token seriously.

Ji Yao turned her gaze back to the corpse puppet and asked tentatively, "Do you want us to return this wooden token?"

The corpse puppet, which had been completely motionless, let its pupils glaze over in confusion for a second at the sound of her voice, then nodded, only to begin shaking its head a moment later.

Ji Yao started to feel troubled. The two sides were simply not on the same wavelength; the information could not be matched at all!

After guessing several more answers, she found to her regret that the puppet's newly sprouted spiritual intelligence seemed somewhat chaotic. Continuous gurgling sounds issued from its throat, and the reflections in its pupils flickered between blurry and clear, until it finally showed signs of lunging forward.

Mu Baiyun reacted swiftly. Although his Listening Thunder Sword did not deliver a direct killing blow, it intercepted the corpse puppet's iron-hard, withered claw-like hands. The force of lightning crackled across the puppet's rigid limbs, scorching them directly to a charred black.

Under the influence of the lightning power, the corpse puppet seemed to regain a sliver of clarity. With a fierce leap, it retreated a dozen meters away, cast one final look at Ji Yao and her companion, and turned to flee as if running for its life.

The scene left the two of them bewildered—strictly speaking, only Ji Yao felt speechless, while Mu Baiyun retracted his flying sword with composure, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Let's go. Since it left the item with us, there will surely be a way to trace the clues. Don't think too much about it," Mu Baiyun said naturally, soothingly brushing away the disheveled strands of hair from Ji Yao's forehead as he offered words of comfort.

Unexpectedly, his gaze fell right upon the red glazed water droplet mark at the center of Ji Yao's brow. His pupils contracted, and his finger reached out to touch it.

"Junior Sister, when did this change?"

The two of them had been standing so close earlier, but due to their accidental lip-to-lip contact, Mu Baiyun's attention had been distracted at the time, and he hadn't noticed the area between Ji Yao's brows, which had been hidden beneath thick bangs. Now seeing it clearly, he realized something was amiss.

He clearly remembered that when they escaped from the Demon-Banning Land, the mark was still just a water-droplet-shaped red trace. Now that its appearance had altered, could it cause any harm to Junior Sister?

Ah, she herself wanted to know as well!

As the person involved, Ji Yao hadn't noticed the anomaly herself. Had it not been for Situ Jing's reminder, she might have suspected that she wouldn't discover this transformation until she returned to the sect.

Thinking of what Situ Jing had said, Ji Yao calmly patted Mu Baiyun's arm to signal that he didn't need to worry.

"I don't know when the original trace turned into this either, but it should be fine."

"Do you remember what I told you about the words of the Boundless True Man?" Ji Yao reminded him.

"Perhaps the Demon-Banning Land employed some other methods. After all, both Xuanxi and Xuansi were there, and there's no guarantee they wouldn't recognize me. Yet I haven't suffered any negative effects. This probably explains why the red trace changed!"

It would have been better if Ji Yao hadn't brought this up, but the moment she mentioned it, Mu Baiyun recalled that Ji Yao's period of distress while in the Demon-Banning Land hadn't looked like an act at all.

"Then what about your reaction back in the Demon-Banning Land?" Mu Baiyun remained worried.

Oh right! There was that incident too, and she hadn't explained it to Mu Baiyun yet. But since Ji Yao hadn't even thought of telling Situ Jing—who knew the most about her origins—she naturally had no intention of explicitly telling Mu Baiyun either.

"Ah, that was just being frightened by what happened on the sacrificial altar, not due to any other reason." Failing to come up with a better excuse on the spot, Ji Yao glossed over it vaguely.

As for whether Mu Baiyun believed it or not, she didn't intend to dwell on the matter any further, because she couldn't make sense of the reasons behind it anyway.

"In any case, no matter what this mark turns into, it currently has no impact on me, and I have indeed benefited from it." Seeing Mu Baiyun's unconvinced expression, Ji Yao simply settled the matter with a final word.

"Could it be that Senior Brother Yun finds this extra mark unsightly?" Ji Yao appropriately displayed a hint of displeasure, raising a hand to cover the glazed water droplet mark with her bangs.

"Indeed, Senior Brother Yun possesses an ethereal grace that naturally none can rival."

What she did not know was that this gesture, in Mu Baiyun's eyes, resembled a display of petty temper, striking precisely at his weak spot. Left with no choice, Mu Baiyun had to compromise.

"Junior Sister is teasing me again. It's just that my concern clouded my judgment. Junior Sister looks wonderful just like this; in my eyes, Junior Sister has only become even more beautiful."

Mu Baiyun's usual speaking tone lacked dramatic fluctuations; even with his inherently peaceful nature, little variation ever showed. Yet when speaking to Ji Yao now, his voice seemed imbued with added emotion, and his gentle tone made Ji Yao momentarily dazed.

Mu Baiyun's actions on this trip brought home a distinct change to Ji Yao. In truth, she scarcely dared to believe that Mu Baiyun's transformation stemmed from her.

In her past life, busy struggling to break free from that household and fighting for herself alone in the outside world, she had never been particularly sensitive to matters of romance, choosing to remain single. Outwardly she appeared unaffected, but deep down, she had harbored self-doubt and insecurity.

Now, Mu Baiyun's gestures caused those lingering traces of self-doubt to resurface and act up. Among the myriad beautiful female cultivators in the immortal realm, she was completely unremarkable, and she simply couldn't fathom where the other party's focus lay.

"Junior Sister?" Mu Baiyun finished speaking, but seeing no reaction from Ji Yao whatsoever, he realized she was spacing out again.

He couldn't help a bitter smile; it seemed that every time he took the initiative, Junior Sister was absent-minded or harbored completely unexpected thoughts, never once giving him a direct response.

"Junior Sister, we should set off quickly. Junior Brother Gu and Junior Sister Ling are still waiting for us to return together. If we don't want the sect to send more people, we need to pick up the pace."

Ji Yao came to her senses with an embarrassed realization that she had zoned out once more. Nodding hurriedly, she picked up the scattered alchemy tripod and medicine hoe from the ground, stowed them back into their original storage pouch, and reached out to take the waist token from Mu Baiyun's hand.

"Leave this with me for now," Mu Baiyun said, withholding the wooden token.

"I have an acquaintance in the Medicine Immortal Valley who should be able to help investigate it."

Hearing this, Ji Yao blurted out, "Is it the legendary Junior Sister of the Medicine Immortal Valley?"