Chapter 702: Mom-and-Pop Shop

Chapter 702: A Couple's Shop

"You... how can you be here?" Zhao Changhe was both startled and overjoyed. Were it not for the still-familiar aura, he might have thought it was a hallucination.

Well... not just the aura—she was also wounded, with only simple treatment. Clearly, she had been walking the line between life and death for a long time, with little chance to tend to her injuries, let alone bathe.

Indeed, the beauty of the martial world was all a lie... but Zhao Changhe still felt this was the most beautiful sight in that world.

And a swordswoman who had long lingered on the edge of life and death would not lag behind others in cultivation breakthroughs. The level of that sudden sword strike just now—one that could make Zhao Changhe, already planning to break through the Imperial realm, feel his scalp tingle from afar—what kind of skill was that?

Zhao Changhe could hardly imagine what kind of life she had led in the half-year since they parted. Everyone said Yue Hongling was the most outstanding prodigy of the younger generation, but few saw how she had walked through life and death all along.

His own rapid progress was due to the Heavenly Book and some luck-induced fortunes, but Yue Hongling had almost none of that. She relied entirely on herself. She was the true top genius of this world.

"I've been roaming the Western Regions all along." Yue Hongling nestled in his arms, her eyes sparkling. "How did you end up here?"

"W-Western Regions?"

"Ah, isn't this the Kunlun Secret Realm?"

"..." Zhao Changhe's heart stirred. "Then when you stabbed me, who did you mistake me for?"

"Over these past months, I've been dealing with strange beings—humanoid, beastly, even indescribable spirit forms. Many of them use illusions. Occasionally... occasionally, you have appeared before me..."

As Yue Hongling spoke, she stammered slightly, her face flushing a little.

Clearly, why she fell for an illusion of Zhao Changhe could only be because she was thinking of him at the time, perhaps even imagining something embarrassing. Or perhaps her enemies knew her "weakness" and deliberately used Zhao Changhe's likeness to deceive her.

She quickly cleared her throat and continued: "Those illusions even simulated your bloodthirsty aura quite closely, making it easy to fall for them. When I saw you lurking here just now, I couldn't believe it was really you—I thought it was another illusion."

Zhao Changhe asked, "Then how did you recognize me?"

Yue Hongling blinked, but didn't answer.

She didn't know how to answer either... Just like when she had fallen for an illusion before, she hadn't been fooled. Back then, her sword heart had awakened on its own, quickly determining it was false. No matter how much the other resembled Zhao Changhe, it couldn't bring her the feeling of him—it always felt hollow. But this time, her sword heart only held a gentle tenderness, able to sense the ecstasy in his heart and the sudden leap in her own, like a wanderer wandering the ends of the earth, finally seeing home.

She couldn't describe this feeling. So much so that even now, she felt languid, as if with him by her side, the storms and snows, the life-and-death struggles of the past half-year had suddenly faded away, and she had found a roof to shelter her from the wind and rain.

How infuriating—she was supposed to be the older one.

Zhao Changhe turned his head to glance at the entanglement between the Buddha and Annihilation in the distance, and said in a low voice, "We'll talk about the details later. Let's deal with the matter at hand first. They haven't noticed our commotion yet... Since you've been here for a while, what do you think we should do?"

Yue Hongling said, "We must save this Buddha. From what I've seen and heard in the Western Regions, if this Buddha is drained and possessed, a demon will soon don his robe, take his form, and drag this world's Buddhist sect into an abyss of no return. It would be a catastrophe for the common people as well."

"Then that's settled." Zhao Changhe nodded, gripping his blade to move.

Yue Hongling pressed a hand on his wrist and said softly, "Let me do it. If I hadn't seen you, I would have hesitated—this might be a trap to capture me. I'm injured, and perhaps I would have had to give up... But with you here, we can instead set a plan..."

As she spoke, Yue Hongling smiled gently and said tenderly, "You're here... it's good."

Zhao Changhe smiled back, and they couldn't help but kiss.

In the void, the blind man shuddered, his goosebumps falling all over the place. What kind of environment was this? What kind of situation? And you two can still lock lips like this? The stench of love's decay was truly nauseating.

But the two who had kissed didn't find anything special about it. Zhao Changhe said directly, "But since we've made a stir here, we probably can't set a trap anymore."

"Not necessarily." Yue Hongling also didn't think it was anything special, shaking her head. "You came here without anyone knowing beforehand. Their focus has been on tracking me, and my strike at you just now was a covert ambush, very restrained, with little noise... I think there's still a chance we haven't been discovered. So you remain in the shadows for now, don't reveal yourself—it might yield unexpected results."

Before she finished speaking, she had already transformed into a streak of light, shooting out. Her sword light stabbed straight into the distant battle, reaching Annihilation's back in an instant.

Such speed, such power.

If not for the lingering aura of sunset and afterglow, Zhao Changhe would have suspected this sword was the work of Snow Owl. The Shi Wuding of the past had been left far behind.

Triple Hidden Treasury! The power of the Heavenly Ranking!

How did she train like this? No wonder she could survive alone in this strange place, facing countless indescribable ambushes, and still be alive and well after months, with her enemies unable to do anything about her...

"Clang!" Annihilation suddenly turned back, striking the side of Yue Hongling's sword.

"So the Lady Yue is indeed here. I've been waiting for you." Annihilation cackled, while at the same time, shadows from the ground surged up, surrounding Yue Hongling from all sides.

Yue Hongling was not Vermilion Bird; her cultivation was lower, and she had no counter-effect against Annihilation. Against this move of Annihilation's, if Vermilion Bird had unleashed her blazing flames, all those ghostly shadows would have been burned away. But Yue Hongling couldn't do that.

She could only rely on her movement technique to dodge swiftly, landing precisely at the side of Annihilation and the Buddha. At the same time, her sword light cut between them, severing Annihilation's control and absorption of the Buddha.

Clearly, her goal was to save the Buddha, but the enemy's target was only her.

The shadows of the surrounding trees, the projections of rocks, even the shadows of people—countless dark forms surged up simultaneously, grim as a prison, rising with ghostly wails. They descended together, forming a terrifying net that trapped Yue Hongling alone, with no escape!

Yue Hongling showed no fear. Her eyes were calm and sharp. She suddenly merged with her sword and charged straight toward the Buddha's position—where the last golden light of the Buddha remained, the weakest point of the shadows. If she could break through, she could also grab the Buddha and flee. This was the conventional outcome if Zhao Changhe hadn't intervened.

But the expected surprise indeed appeared.

Logically, even a maddened Buddha would retain some basic awareness—knowing who was stealing his power and, of course, who was trying to save him.

Yet the moment Yue Hongling charged toward him, his eyes blazed with extreme ferocity, and he threw a punch straight at her face.

"Clang!"

Yue Hongling quickly crossed her sword to block, halting her outward charge. The overwhelming shadows instantly engulfed her.

At the same time, outside the shadows, Annihilation threw a punch at her ribs. Within the shadowy prison, she couldn't even see the blow coming.

Zhao Changhe's hand gripping his blade was drenched in cold sweat. He couldn't help but want to rush out and save her.

The next moment, radiant light burst forth from within the shadowy prison. No matter how thick the darkness, light seeped through every crack, as if a blazing sun had risen in the boundless gloom, instantly dispelling the shadows and illuminating the world.

Even the maddened Buddha was stunned, his eyes showing confusion.

Was this Tathagata?

"Boom!" Sword light pierced the sky, echoing the sun above. The boundless shadows could not trap Yue Hongling at all. A lone swan's shadow broke free from the cage and soared into the heavens.

That sneak punch from Annihilation seemed to have been anticipated, grazing past her without any effect.

"Swoosh!"

Suddenly, another sword light descended from the sky.

Like snowflakes falling from beyond the nine heavens, it turned the very air cold.

Yue Hongling quickly raised her sword to block. A terrifying force struck her, sending her tumbling back down into the shadowy prison below.

Laughter came from midair: "The Lady Yue is indeed troublesome, but this time, you were careless after all—"

Before the word "all" could be spoken, a golden arrow suddenly appeared before his face.

The newcomer was greatly startled and dodged hastily. Below, Yue Hongling stepped on the Buddha's bald head, once again evading countless shadowy tendrils, and thrust her sword straight upward.

A blood-red blade light tore through the void, arriving in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, it became a joint attack of the couple, hunting down their enemy!

The newcomer was utterly incredulous: "Zhao Changhe! How can you be here?"