Before she could ponder further, she heard the woman let out a sharp cry of "Ah!"
Mo Tiange hurriedly leaned closer to look and couldn't help but feel horrified. She saw the man pressing "Little Sister Lian" tightly against his chest, his right hand gripping a dagger-like spiritual weapon that was plunged into "Little Sister Lian's" back.
Half-naked man and woman, a blood-drenched dagger, the woman's terrified expression, the man's twisted face. Mo Tiange covered her own mouth and nose, not daring to breathe a single gasp.
Clearly, it had been a lovers' secret rendezvous, a furtive tryst. Who could have expected it would turn into such a scene!
"Ming-ge... why...?"
The man snorted coldly and sneered, "Did you really think I was interested in you? It was just a honey trap."
The woman's eyes widened, her gaze a mixture of doubt, regret, and fury, made all the more horrifying by her pain-twisted face: "You..."
"With your looks, they're nothing special, and you only have Four Spiritual Roots. Did you think I'd fancy you? Hmph, it was only because you're the sole junior heir of the Huang family. Kill you, get my hands on your family's heirloom treasure, the Soul-Bewitching Lamp, and how could your Huang family ever be a match for our An family!"
Understanding dawned in the woman's eyes, and despair deepened within them. Now she couldn't even speak, just stared wide-eyed at her lover as her breath gradually faded.
From these few sentences, Mo Tiange gleaned some information.
The Huang family and the An family were both minor cultivation families relying on the Yunwu Sect. She had heard the two families had a generational feud. Presumably, the An family had devised this vile scheme to eliminate the Huang family.
Once the man confirmed the woman in his arms had no breath left, he pulled the spiritual dagger from her back, pushed the naked corpse away with disgust, wiped the blood from the dagger himself, then stood up to straighten his clothes.
Mo Tiange dared not make a sound even more. This man had actually killed his female companion in such a vile manner during intimacy. He was clearly a ruthless and wicked person. If he discovered her, he would definitely not let her leave.
After dressing, the man crouched down and rummaged through the woman's clothes, finally finding a Qiankun Bag. He easily broke the divine sense left by its owner and directly dumped everything out.
A pile of women's clothes, spiritual weapons, talismans, jade bottles containing pills, jade boxes seemingly used for collection, and other items. The man immediately spotted what he was looking for. He picked up a lantern from among the spiritual weapons and said joyfully, "It's really here.
Mo Tiange was also very curious about this glass lantern, wondering what powerful function it truly possessed. From what she could see now, it looked like an ordinary glass lantern. Apart from containing spiritual energy, she really couldn't see anything special about it.
The man put everything back into the Qiankun Bag and stored it in his own embrace. With a flick of his finger, a cluster of flames landed on the woman's corpse, immediately igniting a raging fire. The firelight reflected on his still somewhat handsome face, making it seem only gloomy and terrifying.
Mo Tiange only hoped he would quickly destroy the evidence and get rid of the body so she could escape. She wasn't unfamiliar with killing. At ten years old, she had seen Ye Jingwen kill Li Yushan with a single sword strike. Later, following her second uncle wandering East Kunwu, she had often encountered dangerous situations. Whenever there were people with ill intentions, her second uncle showed no mercy. But none of those times had frightened her as much as this. Truly, this man's method of killing was too despicable!
One moment, the two were all lovey-dovey, skin against skin. The next, he actually took advantage of their intimacy to stab a dagger into his lover's back. Looking at the man's face under the sparks, Mo Tiange felt nauseous and wanted to vomit.
It showed that in the cultivation world, even feelings were unreliable. Lovers killing each other was definitely not just this one case.
Suddenly, something flashed at the corner of her eye. She reacted extremely quickly, dodging to the side. She saw a streak of fire rush past her original position, striking a shrub. Then came the man's icy voice: "Who's there?"
Discovered!
Since things had come to this, Mo Tiange's thoughts spun only once. She had already taken all the seeds from her Qiankun Bag into her hand. With her other hand, she channeled the Wind Breath Technique into her palm and sent out a wind blade, slicing at a shrub not far away. The shrub shook, and then another streak of fire rushed towards the shaking bushes.
Taking advantage of the time when the other party was distracted, she lightly moved, instantly floating several zhang away. Peeking quietly through the shrubs again, she saw the man staring fiercely in the direction where the spell had been cast earlier. Fortunately, he hadn't discovered her hiding place.
Mo Tiange couldn't think of any escape method. This man was clearly a ruthless and vicious character, and her cultivation level was the same as his. Silently slipping away was impossible. Gritting her teeth, she realized the only plan now was to fight for her life.
Killing was not unfamiliar to her. Over the years following her second uncle, she had encountered many dangerous situations. However, her second uncle had been at Foundation Establishment for many years, and the original Ye family had a rich collection of ancient texts. Therefore, her second uncle's spells were powerful, and his magical instruments were top-grade, never requiring her to take action. But this man was clearly no good sort. He had probably done killing and treasure-seizing before. Even though she relied on practicing the Pure Maiden Art, making her spiritual power purer and superior by a notch, she really had no confidence...
The man, unable to find anyone, was slowly approaching the shrubbery. Fortunately, he wasn't heading in Mo Tiange's direction, but with a little searching, he would find her.
Mo Tiange hesitated no longer. The moment he drew near, she lightly flicked out a seed.
In the forest, using seeds like this was truly taking advantage of time, place, and favorable conditions. Her use of spiritual energy was also much more proficient than cultivators of the same rank, so the flick was extremely light, hard for anyone to detect.
The moment it made contact, the seed immediately swelled violently, instantly transforming into thorns that madly entangled themselves around the man.
The man was also greatly shocked and alarmed. He hurriedly brandished the spiritual dagger in his hand. This dagger was surely no ordinary item. Before the thorns could entangle him, they were one after another cut to pieces.
Her hiding place already exposed, Mo Tiange immediately retreated while the man was in a flurry. Then she threw out another handful of seeds.
The man had already caught sight of her face. He glared at her with a vicious gaze, but he didn't dare hesitate. While quickly retreating, he used the dagger to cut down the plants approaching him.
This method of attack could be said to be a special feature of the Ye family's Azure Wood Formula. Having already made a move, Mo Tiange was determined to kill. Otherwise, her identity would surely be traced.
The current situation was either you die or I perish. Gritting her teeth, she pulled out the talismans prepared for the Immortal Platform Meet. She slapped one onto herself, immediately creating a defense shield that enveloped her. The others she threw at the man in one go.
The man, suddenly under attack, was given no chance to catch his breath by Mo Tiange, keeping him constantly unable to counterattack, only busy defending. He had just obtained the Soul-Bewitching Lamp and hadn't yet removed the residual divine sense on it or refined it for his own use, so he couldn't employ it. He grew extremely anxious.
Amidst this barrage of talismans he could barely handle, Mo Tiange stacked her hands, then threw out talismans mixed with seeds.
The man, in a brief opening, only had time to release one spell before being dizzied again by Mo Tiange's talisman onslaught. As for his spell, Mo Tiange didn't dodge at all. The defense shield on her body had already blocked it. She just kept hurling seeds and talismans.
The man dodged and blocked. Just as he sensed something was off about this batch of incoming talismans, his ears heard a "boom." The seeds mixed in with the talismans, which he had overlooked, struck his hand. But they suddenly grew into a ball that violently exploded, directly shattering the defense shield on his body. At that moment, several more talismans flew towards him...
"Ah—" With a scream, the man was sent flying backwards. Mo Tiange immediately pulled out a wooden sword and flung it. The wooden sword directly stabbed over. The man grunted again, pierced through the heart, and moved no more.
Mo Tiange stood there dazedly for a while before regaining her senses, realizing she was covered in cold sweat. This was the first time she had killed someone with her own hands. Only now did she discover her heart was pounding like a drum, her steps unsteady. She couldn't help but smile self-deprecatingly. Unable to kill without batting an eye, it showed she was still far from being a qualified cultivator...
However, she was extremely joyful to have escaped with her life. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she cautiously approached, confirming the man was truly dead. Then she retrieved the sword from his body and immediately set about destroying the evidence.
She did exactly what the man had just done. She collected the two Qiankun Bags from his body, then with a flick of her finger, the man's corpse was also burned to ashes.
This man had just killed his lover and burned her body here. Now he died by the same method in the same place. One didn't know if it should be called retribution. Now the two of them could also be said to be sharing the same grave in death, if not the same bed in life.
After the corpses were completely burned and she confirmed no traces could be seen, Mo Tiange hurriedly made her way back.
They had been having a secret rendezvous. The woman's side probably wouldn't have anyone who knew, but the man's side wasn't certain. She carefully took a large detour, hid for a good while longer, then circled out from another direction.