Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Trapped in the Formation

A person’s corruption took time.

At the farm, the people closest to the groom had been controlled outright. Those farther away had only been slowly eroded. That process could take years—or, if the devil qi was thick enough, a few days.

But Huo Chong Xiao and Yue Yun Qiao had only been here one day.

So there was only one explanation.

The guard they’d met just now hadn’t transformed tonight.

He’d been a Devil Creature long before this. He’d simply hidden it well enough that no one had noticed.

How many guards like him were walking the Bai Manor in daylight?

How many servants smiled with black blood in their veins?

A chill slid down Bai Meng Jin’s spine.

Maybe she should be grateful that Great-Uncle hadn’t been insane enough to drag everyone down with him back then. If he had, she never would have escaped the Bai Family at all.

Bai Meng Xing crept closer, peering at her. “What are you doing?”

Bai Meng Jin tore a strip of cloth, wrapped it around her finger, dipped it into the guard’s black blood, and began drawing on the stone.

When Bai Meng Xing spoke again, she looked up and smiled.

“Eating.”

Blood dotted her collar. Her hands were smeared black. With that smile, she looked like something that belonged in the fog.

Bai Meng Xing yelped and stumbled backward. “You—you…”

Bai Meng Jin rolled her eyes and kept drawing.

After a while, Bai Meng Xing realized she wasn’t lunging at him. He crept back in spite of himself, voice smaller. “Are you… drawing a formation diagram?”

“Mhm.”

“We learned this?”

Bai Meng Xing scratched his head, genuinely confused.

Of course not.

This was Yu Mo’s technique. Her technique. She didn’t bother correcting him. Let him sit with the uncomfortable truth that maybe he really was that stupid.

When she sealed the final stroke, a whirlwind rose from the ground with a sharp whoosh, sweeping up dust and fallen leaves. The devil qi leaking from the corpse swirled inside the circle, gathered tight—trapped.

Bai Meng Xing’s mouth fell open. “W-What is that for?”

“To stay alive.”

Bai Meng Jin tossed the filthy strip of cloth aside and started forward again.

“Wait for me!” Bai Meng Xing hurried after her.

Devil Creatures prowled the manor like stray dogs. Every time one appeared, Bai Meng Jin cut it down with a single stroke—and every time, she drew another blood circle to catch the leaking devil qi before it could crawl back into the formation.

Bai Meng Xing muttered as they went, voice trembling with exhaustion. “Where did everyone go? Uncle, Aunt, Elder Sister… Third Sister… where are they?”

Good question.

Bai Meng Jin wanted to know too.

Everyone in this manor was direct line. Even if their talent was poor, they’d all taken pills to draw qi into their bodies.

There was no reason they wouldn’t be here.

They reached the Clear Lotus Courtyard.

The gate stood wide open.

Devil Creature corpses lay scattered across the stones as if a battle had just ripped through. The air stank of blood and scorched qi.

Bai Meng Jin moved quickly, eyes scanning. No sign of Huo Chong Xiao or Yue Yun Qiao.

But bright red blood stained the ground.

Fresh.

“Are they dead?” Bai Meng Xing whispered.

“Not dead,” Bai Meng Jin snapped.

Judging by the scene, the two of them had fought their way out. Huo Chong Xiao was strong and carried protective treasures. He wouldn’t die so easily.

Bai Meng Xing swallowed. “Then what do we do? Go find Great-Uncle?”

He still didn’t understand whose hand this was. To him, Great-Uncle was the solution to any problem.

Bai Meng Jin smiled—small, cold. “Yes. We’ll go find Great-Uncle.”

Great-Uncle had set this up. He wouldn’t let anyone leave.

If you wanted to catch the thief, you caught the ringleader. If you wanted to kill a snake, you struck its vital point.

If they wanted to live, they had to go to him.

They turned toward the back mountain, cutting down Devil Creatures one by one and drawing formation circles in their wake.

After two courtyards, Bai Meng Xing suddenly pointed. “It’s Elder Sister!”

Bai Meng Jin went still.

The girl lying on the ground was Bai Meng Lian. Her clothes were torn, her sword clenched in one hand. Blood splattered her arms and cheek.

She was unconscious—but breathing.

“Is she okay?” Bai Meng Xing asked, voice tight.

Bai Meng Jin checked her pulse and nodded. “She’s alive.”

Elder Sister was the most talented person in the Bai Family besides Bai Meng Jin herself. In the future, when the Cinnabar Cloud Palace came to recruit disciples, Uncle would sabotage Bai Meng Jin—but Bai Meng Lian would still pass.

Their relationship had always been distant. Yet when Bai Meng Jin later fell into trouble, Bai Meng Lian had still tipped her off in secret.

Leaving her here was a death sentence.

Bai Meng Jin glanced at Bai Meng Xing. “You. Carry Elder Sister.”

Bai Meng Xing stared. “Me? How am I supposed to carry her?”

“You want your frail sister to do it?” Bai Meng Jin’s voice turned sharp.

Bai Meng Xing choked, then looked away. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

With Bai Meng Jin’s help, he struggled to hoist Bai Meng Lian onto his back.

“Slow down!” he hissed, already wobbling. “If you go too fast, I can’t walk!”

Bai Meng Jin ignored him and kept moving.

Not far ahead, she spotted familiar marks—clean sword traces, talisman ash, the lingering scent of Cinnabar Cloud Palace techniques.

Her heart kicked.

Huo Chong Xiao and Yue Yun Qiao had been this way.

Sure enough, as they followed the trail, the sound of fighting came through the fog.

Bai Meng Jin raised her voice. “Senior Sister Yue! Young Master Huo! Is that you?”

The fighting surged, then stopped abruptly. A moment later Yue Yun Qiao’s voice rang out, breathless but clear. “Junior Sister Bai—we’re here!”

They found each other at a small pavilion, fog curling around the eaves.

Huo Chong Xiao and Yue Yun Qiao looked battered but alive. The Devil Creatures in the manor were dangerous, but not enough to kill them outright.

When they saw Bai Meng Jin standing unharmed, relief crossed both their faces.

Yue Yun Qiao started at once, words tumbling. “Junior Sister Bai, we tried to find you earlier, but we got lost—” Her gaze caught on Bai Meng Xing’s burden. “What happened?”

“My elder sister ran out of strength,” Bai Meng Jin said shortly. “Where are you planning to go?”

Huo Chong Xiao and Yue Yun Qiao exchanged a look, then fell silent.

After everything they’d seen, they suspected the problem lay with Senior Brother Bai. But Bai Meng Jin was Bai Family blood.

Time was too tight for politeness.

Bai Meng Jin said bluntly, “You want to go to the Withered Leaf Cottage, don’t you?”

Yue Yun Qiao’s jaw tightened. “Junior Sister Bai…”

Bai Meng Jin didn’t make her say it. “I know. The root is in the Withered Leaf Cottage. Great-Uncle… may have been in trouble for a while.

“If he’s already been parasitized by a Devil Creature, then we have to inform the Cinnabar Cloud Palace and have them purge the place.”

Yue Yun Qiao exhaled, as if she’d been holding her breath for minutes. It was easier to swallow “parasitized” than “willing.”

Bai Meng Jin turned to Huo Chong Xiao. “Young Master Huo, do you have another way to notify your elders? Something happened to your message talisman.”

Huo Chong Xiao nodded. “I crushed my message jade talisman. My Master can sense it.”

Then his expression tightened. “But the Cinnabar Cloud Palace isn’t close. We’ll have to hold out.”

Bai Meng Jin’s mouth thinned.

Great-Uncle came from the Cinnabar Cloud Palace as well. He wouldn’t be ignorant of Huo Chong Xiao’s methods. If he dared to do this, it meant he’d planned to finish before help could arrive.

Yue Yun Qiao’s frustration snapped into anger. “What does this Devil Creature even want? If it’s trying to silence us, why go through all this trouble?”

Huo Chong Xiao shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Bai Meng Jin didn’t answer aloud.

[Because he wants to eat everyone.]

The Bai Family. Huo Chong Xiao and Yue Yun Qiao. Every cultivator pulled into this formation.

He wanted them all as nourishment.

With the disturbance in Azure Cloud City already noticed, he could no longer hide. So he’d accelerated—planning to condense a Devil Heart. Only then could he hope to flee before the Cinnabar Cloud Palace arrived.