Brother, how come you're a witch?

The crisp laughter stood out prominently against the tense atmosphere of the cliff.

Su Yan, who had just sent the message, was stunned. The monsters, who were waiting for their leader Liu Baishuang to give the order to attack, were also stunned.

No one knew why she was laughing.

Liu Baishuang's smile froze. She knew she had messed up. A normal person shouldn't be smiling so happily at a time like this.

She quickly loosened her fingers, snapped the communication jade token back into her heart, and nervously stared at Su Yan's back.

"...Senior Sister Liu?"

Su Yan couldn't help but shout, a little worried that the little demoness had been terrified by the intent behind his sword strike.

"ha!"

Liu Baishuang panicked and laughed again, which made things even more inexplicable.

Her mind raced, and after a tremor at the corners of her mouth, she burst into a reckless laugh:

"Hahahahaha!"

The laughter gradually grew louder, with a touch of mania.

Liu Baishuang raised her longsword and shouted:

"Let me go first? We sword cultivators will never abandon our comrades! It's these demons who should run!"

Wow, so passionate, so immature, and with a touch of madness.

Su Yan was stunned. He never expected that Liu Baishuang, the respected master, relative, and senior sister, had such a persona. But thinking about it, it made sense; a normal person couldn't be a demoness.

Discovering the true nature of the little demon girl is a good start to getting close to her and finding an opportunity to influence her.

Su Yan immediately praised her, saying, "As expected of Senior Sister Liu, she is truly a role model for us sword cultivators."

"Hahaha......"

"Shall we go together, senior sister?"

Su Yan said this aloud, but inwardly he sighed.

If Liu Baishuang stays here, he will have to spare some attention to take care of her, which will inevitably increase his consumption of essence and blood. The best way is for him to hold her off for a while, and for the little demon girl to run away quickly. Once she has run a little further away, Su Yan can run in a different direction.

With his years of experience in cultivating immortality and escaping, he was extremely agile in the mountains, and the demons would definitely not be able to catch him if he acted alone.

This way, less essence and blood are consumed, which is most beneficial to the kidneys.

But since Liu Baishuang has already said so much, she definitely won't leave easily. It's better to go along with her. For the sake of the little demoness, we can only suffer the hardship of Su Yan's kidney.

"it is good."

Hearing Su Yan's understanding response, Liu Baishuang breathed a slight sigh of relief and nodded gently.

All the complex emotions she had just experienced seemed to melt into a warm spring water, and she suddenly felt that she didn't necessarily have to kill Su Yan tonight.

So, Liu Baishuang pointed her sword at the horde of demons and issued a command through her bloodline.

"Come up, take a couple of hits, then retreat."

"?"

The monsters were already stunned, and now they were even more bewildered. They all looked at the most intelligent of them, the peak Foundation Establishment monster, with question marks in their eyes, seeking answers.

What does Boss Liu mean by this?

The Foundation Establishment Peak Demon didn't know how to explain it to everyone, but it felt that it had completely understood why Boss Liu Baishuang had laughed so loudly just now.

The thought of the orders I'm about to issue makes me want to laugh.

Is that correct?

For the past month, the brothers have carefully gathered at Xiaozhu Peak from various mountain peaks within the Xuanqing Sect, practicing diligently every night, all for the sake of a perfect ambush.

Even with one claw missing, it remained fearless and did not retreat an inch, carrying out the encirclement as planned and preparing to attack.

But at the last minute, they suddenly changed the match to a fixed one.

The Foundation Establishment Peak demon was unable to accept this and was filled with grief and indignation, but...

Bloodline suppression is absolute; the leader's orders must be obeyed; enslaved beasts have no voice.

It let out a strange howl, and without explaining to its underlings, it braced itself and decided to take the lead in carrying out its boss's orders.

What deeper reason could there be if the leader did this? — It could only console itself with this thought, and wait for an unexpected turn of events...

"Zzzzt!"

"Well said! I heard everything. That's exactly how we sword cultivators are!"

A loud shout, full of passion but delivered in a particularly flat tone, came from the forest.

Immediately afterwards, a chilling sword light pierced out.

An unexpected event has occurred!

Ye Jingqiu appeared out of nowhere, rushing out from behind the monster horde. Her appearance was so sudden that the monsters didn't even have time to react, and she easily tore a gap in their encirclement.

Su Yan's spirits lifted.

Why Ye Jingqiu is here is not important. Anyway, Su Yan is used to this guy popping out from all sorts of strange places—such as under the dining table, deep in the wardrobe, or even in the toilet cubicle.

Most importantly, her appearance at this moment has turned the tide. As long as she can maintain that gap for a moment, Su Yan can easily break out of the encirclement with Liu Baishuang, minimizing the pressure on Yaozi.

Ye Jingqiu has entered! Ye Jingqiu is brimming with spiritual energy! Ye Jingqiu has torn open a gap; Ye Jingqiu is amazing!

"Well done! Ye... um?"

Su Yan couldn't help but praise her. Just as he was about to launch a coordinated attack from the inside, he saw Ye Jingqiu completely ignoring the demon beside her and charging straight through the gap she had torn open.

Caught off guard, the monsters stared blankly at Ye Jingqiu's back as he resolutely walked into the depths of the encirclement, seemingly carrying some kind of determination. They were all puzzled as they closed the gap.

"you....."

Su Yan gasped, about to say something, when Ye Jingqiu rushed forward first, tilting her head back and grabbing his sword-wielding hand:

"You really did send me away to sneak out and practice your swordsmanship! You're so despicable!"

"I......"

"Ha, no need to explain, you can't fool me, I saw it all."

Ye Jingqiu sneered:

"Even from five hundred paces away, you can see that soaring pure white sword energy. Its aroma is rich and intense. I could never mistake it."

"Fellow Daoist Su, I am very disappointed in you. For the past two months, we have been inseparable, attending classes together, eating together, and cultivating together. You have never shared your swordsmanship experience with me. I thought it was a principle that should not be easily passed on, but you have been practicing swordsmanship with a woman you've barely spoken to. This is undoubtedly a betrayal of our friendship!"

"If you still consider me a good fellow Daoist, then use that sword energy you just used to strike me once, and we'll call it even!"

Ye Jingqiu, who was usually taciturn, suddenly spoke such a long string of words in one breath, and even her tone fluctuated. If it were any other time, Su Yan would have been full of praise and seriously suspected that she had been possessed.

But at this moment, Su Yan only felt the noise.

He glanced at Liu Baishuang out of the corner of his eye, afraid that Ye Jingqiu's words would ruin the little bit of goodwill he had just built up, while reaching out to pry Ye Jingqiu's fingers off his wrist:

"Don't create a bond between us out of thin air. Which of those things I did just now was something I did willingly? And... isn't it possible I was slaying monsters, not practicing my swordsmanship? Didn't you notice we're surrounded?"

"I've found it."

"You found out and still barged in?"