ebookland Chapter 903 Bloody Wanted Order
Chapter 903 Bloody Wanted Order
The ice of the cold pond cracked inch by inch under the strong wind. Yun Yao clenched Chu Mochen's blood-stained hand, her fingertips touching the deep burn marks on his wrist. Although the projection of the divine messenger had dissipated, the fragments of the laws that remained in the void still sizzled, like a dormant venomous snake spitting out its tongue.
"Madam!" A familiar exclamation pierced the dead silence. Yun Yao spun abruptly, her dark skirt sweeping across the icy ridges, sending up tiny shimmers of silver light. A moon-white figure darted from the woods, its plain hairband rustling in the wind. Her gentle face made her pupils shrink—it was Xiao Cui, the maid who had once hidden osmanthus cakes in the palace kitchen. Now she was clad in a shimmering robe adorned with divine patterns, and a star chain, symbolizing a mid-level deity, dangled from her neck.
"Xiao Cui?" Yun Yao subconsciously took a half step forward, but Chu Mochen suddenly grabbed her wrist. Only then did she notice the faint dark golden curse mark beneath his sleeve, which was like a chain wrapped around his skin, emitting an unsettling aura.
Xiao Cui suddenly knelt on the ice, her forehead pressed against the piercing cold jade. "I deserve death! Madam, please save my young master!" Her voice trembled, but she couldn't hide the complex emotions surging in her eyes. "The God Realm has captured the young master and said that if you hand over the fragment of the law, they will spare his life..."
Yun Yao felt Chu Mochen's grip suddenly tighten. Three years ago, the abandoned baby Xiaotang they'd rescued in the mortal realm had become a bargaining chip in the divine realm. From the depths of the cold pond emanated the low growls of ancient beasts, as if they too were wailing over this conspiracy.
"Get up and talk." Yun Yao suppressed her shock and anger, but the moment Xiao Cui looked up, she saw a dark blue rune flash behind her ear—it was the Heart-Eating Curse, an ancient forbidden spell that would burn the soul if a person lied. This discovery made her blood freeze.
At that moment, the sky suddenly exploded with a blinding crimson light. A blood-red wanted poster enveloped the heavens like a canopy, Yun Yao's portrait suspended within. Written below in ancient divine seal script: "Whoever captures the carrier of these rules will be rewarded with three wisps of primordial purple energy and granted eternal divine status." Amidst a roar, the wanted poster transformed into countless runes, raining down upon the ground.
"Hurry!" Chu Mochen grabbed Yun Yao's waist and was about to teleport when the air around them suddenly twisted. Thirty-six floating peaks emerged from the clouds; it was none other than the "Tian Yan Sect" they had once protected. The giant Dharma image at the mountain gate suddenly opened its eyes, its compassionate face concealing murderous intent. The sect leader wielded the Zhuxian Sword, the tip of the blade pointed directly at Yun Yao's brow. "Miss Yun, hand over the fragment of the law, and I'll keep your body intact."
Xiao Cui suddenly pounced at Yun Yao's feet, her fingertips quickly drawing curse marks on the hem of her skirt. "Madam, run! They've been bribed by the gods..." Before she could finish her words, her pupils suddenly turned grayish-white, and black blood oozed from the corners of her mouth. Yun Yao reached out to help, but Xiao Cui grabbed her throat with an astonishing force. "I'm sorry, madam."
Chu Mochen's Dragon Roar Sword was instantly unsheathed, but it abruptly stopped when it touched Xiao Cui. The Heart-Eating Curse on her neck was pulsing wildly. If he attacked forcefully, Xiao Tang would surely die. Yun Yao looked at the complex expression of pain and determination in Xiao Cui's eyes, and suddenly remembered that when they first met, this girl had also stubbornly stuffed half a steamed bread into her hand.
"So, you've been theirs from the beginning." Yun Yao's voice was calm, yet it sent a shudder through Xiao Cui. A golden pattern of laws rose from her palm, gently covering Xiao Cui's wrist. "But I believe your will still resides within this body."
The chains of the Heart-Eating Curse suddenly emitted a sharp buzzing sound. Xiao Cui began to bleed from all seven orifices, but she suddenly pushed Yun Yao towards Chu Mochen: "Take Xiao Tang with you! To the Misty Forest in the southwest..." Before she could finish her words, she transformed into thousands of points of light. In the last moment before she dissipated, a jade pendant engraved with the word "Tang" fell into Yun Yao's palm.
The Tianyan Sect's attack was approaching. Chu Mochen, holding Yun Yao, teleported into mid-air. Below, he saw the thirty-six peaks simultaneously illuminate with a world-destroying formation. Countless sword energies, like an inverted Milky Way, shot straight into the sky. Yun Yao suddenly grabbed his wrist, her fingertips condensing into threads of law, peeling off the fragments of the portrait on the wanted poster one by one. "This is what they want. Give it to them."
The fragments twisted and reorganized in her hands, transforming into a phantom. The moment the light of the world-annihilating formation engulfed the phantom, the entire world trembled violently. Yun Yao seized the opportunity to lead Chu Mochen into the misty forest, unaware that behind them, amidst Xiao Cui's dissipated light, a subtle blue rune sprang, hurtling towards a mysterious direction.
In the misty forest, rotting leaves rustled eerily underfoot. Yun Yao clutched her jade pendant tightly when she suddenly spotted a fresh claw mark on a tree trunk—the mark of Xiaotang's unique spirit beast bloodline. Just as she was about to follow the mark, Chu Mochen suddenly pinned her against the tree, a defensive barrier rising from his palm.
"Be careful." His voice was low and dangerous.
The air rippled with the sound of breaking wind as hundreds of poison-tipped arrows pierced the air. Yun Yao's pupils shrank slightly. These arrows were all imbued with the laws of the divine realm. Chu Mochen's Dragon Roar Sword danced with a cloud of sword shadows, shattering all the arrows. However, as the sword energy dissipated, Yun Yao exclaimed in surprise.
A giant, pitch-black python burst forth from the ground, its pupils reflecting Xiao Cui's features. It opened its bloody maw, revealing a mouth covered in barbs. Inside, curled unconscious, lay Xiao Tang. Yun Yao's Law power erupted instantly, golden lines swirling around her, twisting space into a vortex. Just as the python was about to be crushed, it suddenly released a cloud of blood.
Xiao Cui emerged from the blood mist, tears streaming down her face, but her voice was as cold as a machine: "Madam, this is your last chance." As she spoke, a dagger appeared in her hand and pressed against Xiao Tang's throat, "Hand over the fragment of the law, or else..."
Yun Yao felt Chu Mochen tense up, his murderous intent spreading like a substance. But she slowly loosened her clenched fist, and a shimmering fragment emerged from her palm—a trace of the original aura that had been deliberately left behind when she forged the wanted order.
"Here you go." She tossed the fragment into the air. Xiao Cui's figure transformed into a stream of light and reached for it. The moment it touched the fragment, a blood mist suddenly boiled. Xiao Tang fell from her grasp, only to be caught by Yun Yao in time. Xiao Cui's body began to disintegrate. Before dissipating, she finally regained her composure, her eyes filled with relief. "Madam, I'm sorry... and the young master..."
Before she could finish her words, she completely dissipated in the blood mist. Yun Yao hugged the unconscious Xiao Tang tightly and discovered a jade slip hidden in the child's arms. The moment it unfolded, a memory flooded into her mind—Xiao Cui was actually a "vessel" planted by the gods to stay with them, but through her time with Xiao Tang, her soul developed independent consciousness. Tormented by the Heart-Eating Curse, she used her last bit of strength to hide Xiao Tang within the giant python and deliberately lured Yun Yao to her.
"She sacrificed her life to leave us a way out," Yun Yao's voice choked with sobs. Chu Mochen gently stroked the top of her head, his gaze warily gazing deep into the forest—they all knew this was just the tip of the iceberg of the divine realm's conspiracy. At the end of the jade slip, Xiao Cui had left a series of mysterious coordinates, pointing to a place not even marked on the divine realm's map: the Eye of Guixu.
A chill wind blew, and the fragments of the wanted poster still drifted through the forest. Yun Yao hugged Xiao Tang tightly and exchanged glances with Chu Mochen. Under the bloody wanted poster, this escape had just begun, and they had already prepared to break through.