As the ship sailed farther, the island gradually lost in their sights. Huangfu Xin’er stood at the head of the ship, gazing at the direction of the Skygale Sect. Her dress danced with the wind.

“The wind is so big here. Come inside with me.” Xiao Chen stood beside her, thinking that her feeling toward the Skygale Sect was exactly the same as his toward the Three Pure Sect.

“Although my master had been harsh, he treated us very well.”

Huangfu Xin’er entered the cabin as Su Wan glared at her, saying, “B*tch! Finally, I’m in your hands. Are you happy now?” She then glared at Xiao Chen and the others, saying, “I warn you! I am the big miss of the Su Family. If you do something to me, none of you can escape! Including your families!”

No one paid attention to her. Xiao Chen walked over and frowned. “The Su Family in Violet Manor?”

Su Wan sneered and said, “You’re afraid now? I tell you, once I die, the life and death light in my family will go out. When my father comes, none of you will be able to leave the sea alive!”

Xiao Chen didn’t speak. He took out the badge his mother had given him and handed it to her. “Have you seen this?”

Su Wan froze and then suddenly raised her head. “This is my family badge! Where did you steal it?”

Xiao Chen took back the badge and felt nothing but chaos. “Is mother really a member of the Su Family in Violet Manor? Then this Su Wan is most likely to be my cousin…”

Su Wan shouted, “I’m asking you! Where did you steal this badge?”

Xiao Chen ignored her and looked at Shangguan Yan. “Watch her.”

Shangguan Yan smiled insidiously and walked toward Su Wan. “Master, it’s cold outside. Let’s go and sit inside.”

Su Wan’s eyes were full of fear and she could not help retreating. She shivered and said, “You… I’m your master! What do you want? Are you going to kill your master?!” Shangguan Yan giggled and said, “I’m paying respect to my master. I’m afraid of my master catching a cold outside!” She then pulled her into a cabin.

Xiao Chen felt dizzy and weak. He then also entered a cabin. An hour later, Xiao Han came in. “Our Xiao Family has a thousand-year rule that we can’t associate with people surnamed Su. But your mother is surnamed Su. Isn’t that Su Wan your cousin?”

Xiao Chen’s eyebrows furrowed tightly. “Shangguan Yan is not solid. I’ll go check her out in case something happens.”

“What? Are you worrying about your cousin so soon?”

The two people went to Shangguan Yan’s room and heard crying from the inside. After opening the door, they were shocked.

“What are you doing!”

Su Wan’s arms and legs were sliced with many wounds, where poisonous insects were crawling on them. Her face was also full of wounds. At the moment, her face was expressionless, and her mouth was open. She kept shivering, her eyes wide open, and tears were flowing down.

“I… I will kill you.”

Shangguan Yan hurriedly hid her dagger and rightfully said, “After so many days, can’t my little babies suck some blood?”

Xiao Chen’s face looked terrible. He swung his sleeves to send the insects away from Su Wan and then helped her up. Fortunately, the scars were not deep. Applying some spiritual medicine on the scars could make sure that they wouldn’t leave any trace.

Su Wan glared at him, saying, “I will definitely kill you…”

All of a sudden, the ship was shaking intensely as people could not stand straight. Through the windows, they saw white billows surging to the sky as a 60-meter-long flood dragon dashed out of the sea.

“Roar!” A heaven-shaking roar scared the sh*t out of the sailors. Xiao Chen and the others quickly went to the deck as numerous water columns rolled toward them.

“Hold tight! Don’t fall!” Xiao Chen propped up a defensive barrier to block the water columns. This sea is boundless. With their current cultivation, it was impossible for them to fly over the sea on their swords, and they would definitely die if they fell into the sea.

Huangfu Xin’er also rushed out. She saw it was the dragon of her sect and then hurriedly send some True Qi into Xiao Chen’s body to help him resist the attack. However, one column after another, Xiao Chen felt that he could not stand it. He turned his head and said, “You go back to the cabin. Don’t come out!”

“This thing is the spiritual beast of the last sect leader, Yunya Zi, of the Skygale Sect in Violet Manor. You can’t withstand it alone!”

When they were talking, the flood dragon stopped sending water columns and rushed to the ship. Xiao Chen cursed inwardly. If such a huge thing hit the ship, the ship would definitely be torn apart. He moved his fingers to cast out a sword spell, and Unsullied turned into a white radiance and then moved toward the dragon’s head.

Although Unsullied was an ancient Legendary Weapon, it could not deal much damage to the dragon. The dragon rushed up quickly and in the blink of an eye, it was already 60 meters from the ship.

Billows after billows of water crashed against them, the ship shook more intensely. Before the dragon hit the ship, the ship might be turned over by the billow. Xiao Chen ran his True Qi and punched out the Cyan Dragon Roars. A dragon roar sounded as numerous 300-meter-high water columns blasted out of the sea.

The flood dragon’s body trembled upon hearing the dragon roar, and it dared not to rush forth anymore. It floated on the sea with half of its body in the water and carefully looked at the small ship. Suddenly, a teal light flashed as Su Wan rode on her sword and landed on the flood dragon. Just now, she took advantage of the chaos and broke the acupuncture points that Xiao Chen sealed. Now she just escaped without a second thought.

That flood dragon roared and then turned back to the Skygale Sect. The sea quieted down. Now that they’d lost the hostage, Xiao Chen feared that Tiangu Zi might catch up. So, he ordered the sailors to sail as fast as possible.

Xiao Han also sent internal strength under the water. The freighter then moved as an arrow that left the string, scaring the sailors and making them pale. Finally, at dusk, the ship returned to the dock of Sang City. They dared not to stay and left immediately.

Li Muxue had already ordered the fastest carriage to pick them up. They did not have the time for meal and immediately set out.

“Didn’t you find Senior Sister Luo and Xian’er?”

Xiao Chen shook his head and said nothing. Li Muxue looked at Huangfu Xin’er and asked, “You are?”

“This is someone’s childhood friend. They said everything to each other since childhood…” Shangguan Yan said quickly. But before she could finish her words, Xiao Chen glared at her, so she stopped talking.

The night fell, and there was no moon or star tonight. Everything was quiet outside, and there was only the sound of wheels of the carriage. The driver said, “Princess, it’s Huainan Town 50 kilometers ahead. It’s not safe to travel at night. Shall we rest for a night?”

“Okay.”

Several people lit a white light by their True Energy inside the carriage. A few moments later, Xiao Han asked, “Where shall we go next?”

“Let’s go back to the Xiao Family.” Xiao Chen looked at the badge in his hand. It’s been a year, and they ought to go home. He then looked at Huangfu Xin’er, asking, “Are you coming?”

Huangfu Xin’er shook her head. “I want to go home.”

“All right. I know two seniors. When the matters are dealt with, I will definitely think of some way to let you enter Violet Manor. Let me send you back to Liu Province tomorrow.” Xiao Chen did not know what to say. Maybe her only wish now was to enter Violet Manor.

“I…” Huangfu Xin’er moved her lips and lowered her head. Eventually, she said nothing.

Two hours later, they arrived at Huainan Town and settled in a small tavern. After having meals, they returned to each other’s room. Xiao Chen looked at the pitch-dark sky. For no reason, he started to worry about something.

However, at this point, in the Xiao Family in Cloud City, everything looked like dead. The doors were all closed tightly. This was because recently the ancient tomb in the mountain back of the Xiao Family was filled with evil Qi. And dark clouds covered that place. At night, horrible voices could be heard there.

“Xiao Ning… You can’t keep me here… When I see the daylight again, your Xiao Family will perish.”

It seemed that the voice came from under the ground. Although no one could hear what was said clearly, they were all terrified as if the end of the world was coming. All the guards had been evacuated, and no one dared to approach the tomb anymore.

…

In the next morning, Xiao Chen woke up and found Huangfu Xin’er was gone. She only left a note in his room that wrote: “Don’t miss me”. He then rushed out of town, heading Liu Province. After rushing for 15 kilometers, he finally found a girl dressed in green ahead. He ran forth and asked, “Why did you go alone?”

Huangfu Xin’er turned around, her eye sockets red. She sobbed, “It’s fine. I just wanna go home and have a look.”

Xiao Chen sighed softly and wanted to say: “Go back with me.” But he said, “I’ll send you.”

Huangfu Xin’er sobbed, shook her head, and said with a smile, “It’s really okay. You go back now. Don’t keep your friends waiting for too long.”

Having found her determination of going home, Xiao Chen sighed and said, “All right.”

When the two arrived at the next town, Xiao Chen found a carriage. Before leaving, he also did not know what to say and could not give too many promises. “You can come to me anytime in the future. Take care of yourself.” Then, he took out a piece of jade note and handed it over to her.

“Okay.” Huangfu Xin’er took the jade note, forced a smile, and nodded.

Xiao Chen stood in the wind for a long time as the carriage stretched their distance longer. They could not go back. He had things that were painful to say and did not want to part. As for Huangfu Xin’er, her memories became vague, but she could not forget the scenes happened in the Skygale Sect.

“Can you be my master?”

“Your cultivation is far higher than mine. I feel bad to hear you call me master…”

The scene of that day appeared in his mind, that he went up to recognize her as his master and she did not know what to do.

Suddenly, there came a warmth from his chest. Xiao Chen took out the Fire-heart Jade.

“You chose me to be your master, and I haven’t got anything valuable to gift you. This is the Fire-heart Jade. It came from the fire stones in the wild north. It can keep you warm. Take this.”

He sighed, put it up, turned and went to Huainan Town.

When he returned to Huainan Town, Li Muxue saw him upset and felt sorry. She asked, “Have you caught up?”

Xiao Chen shook his head. “She’s gone.”

They said no more, took the carriage, and went to the Xiao Family in Cloud Province. All along the way, Xiao Chen felt a little uneasy. He told the driver to drive faster. The uneasiness did not come from Huangfu Xin’er but his parents.

Four hours later, a huge noise suddenly rose from outside. The carriage stopped suddenly, followed by the driver’s trembling voice. “Daoist priest… Why do you stop me?”