Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Corruption Underway

As if responding to her thought, the fog surged.

The sinister aura thickened until it felt like pressure against the skin. Heavy footsteps came in waves through the haze, circling.

Huo Chong Xiao’s grip tightened on his sword. “Watch out!”

A man shrouded in black qi burst out of the fog, charging straight at Bai Meng Jin. In his hands was an abacus, raised like a weapon.

He slammed it down.

Bai Meng Jin twisted aside. In the same instant, Huo Chong Xiao stepped in front of her.

His sword qi whirled, faint thunder threaded through it. Wherever it passed, the black qi was shredded clean.

The man collapsed.

“It’s Steward Tian!” Bai Meng Xing shouted, horror and disbelief colliding. “Even him…”

This one wasn’t like the stiff, half-aware Devil Creatures they’d met earlier. His movements were sharp, almost human. If Huo Chong Xiao hadn’t been there, they wouldn’t have handled him so cleanly.

Bai Meng Jin’s unease deepened.

Steward Tian was Uncle’s trusted aide. If he’d been corrupted this badly, could Uncle really have been unaware?

Or had everyone in the Bai Family—everyone except a few juniors like them—already become Great-Uncle’s puppets?

Shadows moved in the fog. More footsteps closed in.

Bai Meng Xing’s knees went weak. “Mom… why are there so many?”

“More and more people are being corrupted,” Huo Chong Xiao said grimly. “We have to move.”

Yue Yun Qiao nodded hard. “Senior Brother, your cultivation is the highest. You lead. I’ll cover the rear.”

Then she turned to Bai Meng Jin. “Junior Sister Bai, protect them. If you can’t handle it, call for me.”

Bai Meng Jin answered evenly. “Okay.”

They had barely finished speaking before the corrupted rushed in.

Huo Chong Xiao formed a hand seal. His flying sword became a streak of light, weaving through bodies, sweeping devil qi away in bright, clean arcs.

Yue Yun Qiao stayed behind him, breath tight, eyes wide. For her first mission, this was far beyond what she’d expected. She didn’t dare relax for even a heartbeat.

Bai Meng Jin kept to the side with her siblings, sword flashing. She blocked, slashed, and when she saw an opening, she snapped talismans into the air. Each one burned with a sharp crack, blasting back the black.

Within moments, she’d cleared the space around them.

Huo Chong Xiao turned, ready to help—and paused, surprised.

“Miss Bai,” he said, voice tight with exertion, “your talismans are impressive.”

Before Bai Meng Jin could respond, Bai Meng Xing blurted, “Of course they are! My sister is the best in the family at drawing talismans!”

There was even a hint of pride in his voice, as if he hadn’t spent the afternoon threatening to have her beaten.

Bai Meng Jin shot him a glance and answered modestly, “I should thank Great-Uncle. The talisman brush he had delivered yesterday was a gift from the elders of the Cinnabar Cloud Palace. It draws high-grade talismans.

“I had a bad feeling things would turn messy, so I stayed up and drew as many as I could.”

Yue Yun Qiao’s eyes widened. “No wonder you were so sleepy this morning. You were drawing talismans all night.”

She sighed. “If I’d known, I would’ve drawn some too. Better safe than sorry.”

Huo Chong Xiao had already carved a narrow path through. “Everyone. Follow me. Move!”

They crossed a small garden and reached the back gate.

There was only one road up the back mountain. They didn’t need directions.

But the fog grew thicker with every step. Devil qi churned inside it like ink spreading through water. The trees, the stone, even the air itself seemed stained black.

Huo Chong Xiao’s cultivation held steady. Yue Yun Qiao had a protective treasure guarding her body. Neither of them was affected.

As for Bai Meng Jin, the heavier the devil qi became, the more natural it felt.

But Bai Meng Xing… Bai Meng Xing was barely holding on.

His cultivation was low. He had no protective treasure. Under the corrosion of devil qi, his teeth chattered, his hands trembled, and he nearly dropped Bai Meng Lian twice.

“I-I’m cold,” he stammered, voice cracking. “So cold…”

Bai Meng Jin steadied him with one hand. “Hold out your hand.”

“For what?” Bai Meng Xing’s face went pale. “You’re not going to get revenge now, are you? We’re siblings. Even if I bullied you, you’re not going to kill me, right?”

Bai Meng Jin’s patience snapped. “Hold. Out. Your. Hand.”

Intimidated, Bai Meng Xing extended his hand like he expected it to be bitten.

Bai Meng Jin cut her fingertip and drew a complex rune across the back of his hand.

When she pressed the final stroke, warmth flared. It spread through Bai Meng Xing’s arm and into his chest like a furnace lighting from within.

He gasped, then sagged with relief. “Ah…”

Huo Chong Xiao glanced over—and felt a shock tighten his gut.

The rune wasn’t overly complicated, but its meaning ran deep. He couldn’t understand it at all.

[Is this a secret technique of the Bai Family?]

Either way, it was impressive.

With skill like this, Bai Meng Jin could enter the Cinnabar Cloud Palace without difficulty.

Bai Meng Jin checked Bai Meng Lian’s pulse and found it weaker still. She called, “Young Master Huo. Stop for a moment.”

Huo Chong Xiao finished off the Devil Creature in front of him and halted, breathing hard. “How is your sister?”

“She fainted from exhaustion,” Bai Meng Jin said. “She can’t circulate her power to resist the devil qi. We need to protect her.”

They found a spot sheltered by rocks and set Bai Meng Lian down gently.

Yue Yun Qiao rummaged in her sleeve and produced a bottle. “Junior Sister Bai, these are Purifying Spirit Pills. They purify the qi in the body. They should help for now.”

Bai Meng Jin didn’t waste time pretending pride. “Thank you.”

She fed Bai Meng Lian a pill and then drew the same seal on the back of her hand.

After a moment, Bai Meng Lian let out a low sound and opened her eyes.

Her gaze flicked from Bai Meng Jin to Bai Meng Xing, and she froze. “Sister…? Big Brother…?”

Those two together? The world must have flipped upside down.

Then memory caught up. In a crisis like this, old grudges meant nothing.

Bai Meng Lian’s eyes sharpened. “What’s going on? And these two…” She looked at Huo Chong Xiao and Yue Yun Qiao.

“Elder Sister, you know we have guests at home,” Bai Meng Jin said. “These are Immortal Master Huo and Immortal Maiden Yue from the Cinnabar Cloud Palace.”

Bai Meng Lian nodded once, then pushed herself upright, testing her limbs. Her body felt strangely… comfortable. Warm.

She didn’t know the seal on her hand had been drawn by Bai Meng Jin. She assumed the Cinnabar Cloud Palace disciples had done something.

Her gaze swept the fog. “What exactly happened? Is a devil cultivator causing trouble? Are we going to find Great-Uncle?”

Bai Meng Jin’s voice turned heavy. “We suspect Great-Uncle might be in trouble. Devil Creatures have been appearing in the city. The root is in our Bai Family.”

Shock hollowed Bai Meng Lian’s face. Great-Uncle was Golden Core—the pillar the Bai Family leaned on.

When she’d sensed strange changes earlier, she hadn’t panicked. She’d believed Great-Uncle would solve anything.

Now, that certainty cracked.

“Elder Sister,” Bai Meng Jin said, steady and unyielding, “we have to save ourselves. Immortal Master Huo has already notified the sect, but it will take time.

“We have to reach the Withered Leaf Cottage and find a way to slow the corruption. Otherwise, we’ll all become nourishment.”

Bai Meng Lian didn’t waste time collapsing. Once she judged the situation, her decision came like a blade.

“I’m coming with you,” she said. “I know a small path that leads straight to the Withered Leaf Cottage. I’ll guide us.”