"How... did you find me?"
Su Qingyue showed no sign of answering Mu Chen's question. Instead she did something that caught Mu Chen completely off guard, and Yun Tian and Han Lao as well.
The beautiful woman reached out and pulled Mu Chen into a tight embrace. His heart pounded hard, afraid and on edge at being held by a monstrous cultivator this powerful.
If Mu Chen did anything careless that hurt her again, his life would be back on the line.
"Master Su?" Mu Chen asked, stunned.
"Forgive me, Mu Chen. I was truly foolish to attack you and hurt you," Su Qingyue said.
"I began to understand everything once you were no longer beside me. Ten days without you felt like hundreds of years living in emptiness with no sense of direction."
"You don't need to be afraid anymore. I will never hurt you again, Mu Chen."
Her voice was soft against his ears. The warmth of her body pressed against him. The scent of perfume at her neck drifted over and pulled at his senses.
Mu Chen felt something different in that moment, being held by Su Qingyue like this.
"So what do you say? Will you come back to the Tianyin Sect with me?" Su Qingyue asked.
She let go of the embrace and held his gaze for a moment. There was no trace of anything threatening in Su Qingyue's expression.
Every touch of her fingers was gentle and settling, almost enough to pull Mu Chen in completely.
"I..."
"MU CHEN!" someone shouted from outside the old house, cutting him off.
Su Qingyue's expression shifted fast, from smiling to cold and sour. She turned her head to the side and looked at Grandma Si and Grandpa Tu returning to their home.
Her eyes lit up white, and she hit both of them with cultivation pressure. It was enough to drop them both helplessly to their knees, coughing up blood.
"Grandma Si! Grandpa Tu!"
Mu Chen summoned the Ancient God Cauldron into his hand and threw it forward, the mouth of the cauldron facing upward.
Golden qi light blazed at Mu Chen's fingertips, "Absorb!"
The Ancient God Cauldron activated and began radiating pure golden light, spinning and purifying the Soul Transformation cultivation pressure from Su Qingyue.
"That really is the Ancient God Cauldron. I can feel the qi fluctuations coming from it," Han Lao said.
"That kid Mu Chen is incredibly lucky. I have no idea how he ended up with an ancient artifact this rare," Yun Tian said.
With the cultivation pressure absorbed, Grandma Si and Grandpa Tu were no longer affected. Both of them got up and swallowed a green pill to help restore their condition.
Su Qingyue was mildly surprised by Mu Chen's response. She turned and kept her eyes fixed on his face with a look of confusion.
"What is it, Mu Chen?" Su Qingyue asked.
"They saved me when I was dying, drifting in the river. If you hurt them, I will fight you," Mu Chen said.
"Is that right? So they are the ones who saved you?"
The woman smiled wide, turned toward the outside, and walked out of the old house. Her destination wasn't the Tianyin Sect. She went and stood directly in front of Grandma Si and Grandpa Tu.
She swept her hand to the side, halting the cultivation pressure in the area and letting the Ancient God Cauldron return to Mu Chen.
Mu Chen took the cauldron back and put it away, then stepped outside after her. He watched Su Qingyue, with Yun Tian and Han Lao behind her, speaking to Grandma Si and Grandpa Tu.
"I am deeply grateful that you helped me by keeping Mu Chen safe. Without you, I was worried he would become even harder to find," Su Qingyue said, warm and pleasant, a wide smile across her face.
Grandma Si and Grandpa Tu turned and looked at each other. Grandpa Tu stood up and pressed his hands together, lowering his head in a respectful bow to Su Qingyue.
"Senior speaks too highly of us. We only did what anyone ought to do," Grandpa Tu said.
Su Qingyue smiled wide and looked at them with a sharp glint in her eyes. "In that case... why didn't you tell us?"
"Why didn't you come forward the moment you saved Mu Chen?!" Su Qingyue demanded.
"About that... I was worried about..."
"You wanted to get hold of that artifact for yourselves?!"
THUDD!
Su Qingyue's eyes lit up white again. Cultivation pressure appeared and slammed into Grandma Si and Grandpa Tu, who were no longer protected by Mu Chen's cauldron.
"STOP!" Mu Chen shouted.
Su Qingyue spun quickly and extended her hand, doing the same to Mu Chen.
He dropped to his knees on the ground, coughing up blood and feeling dizzy. But he noticed the cultivation pressure from Su Qingyue felt lighter than the last time.
"You clearly knew about that artifact. You were trying to hide Mu Chen and extract the cauldron from his body."
"I have seen this kind of thing happen many times. That is exactly why I am disgusted with people like you."
Su Qingyue thrust her hand forward. The cultivation pressure bearing down on Grandma Si and Grandpa Tu grew so strong that their bodies were no longer just kneeling. They were pressed flat against the ground.
"Ahhh!"
"STOP, SU QINGYUE!" Mu Chen shouted.
He yelled out loud and forced every part of his body to move, his muscles pushing hard, his mind sharpening.
Mu Chen summoned the Ancient God Cauldron and aimed it straight ahead, directly at Su Qingyue.
Yun Tian and Han Lao moved fast, working together to form a defensive wall to hold back the force of Mu Chen's Ancient God Cauldron.
"Mu Chen. You would do well to obey and come with us to the Tianyin Sect!" Yun Tian said.
"I... won't go anywhere if you kill them."
"Don't be stubborn, Mu Chen. Just listen to what we say," Han Lao said.
"No one gets to order me around!" Mu Chen shouted.
BLAST!
An explosion went off and shattered Yun Tian and Han Lao's defensive wall. The Ancient God Cauldron returned to Mu Chen, but he coughed up blood from the effort of the clash.
Yun Tian and Han Lao looked unharmed. He turned ahead, eyes fixed sharply on Mu Chen with a look that said they wanted full control over the Ancient God Cauldron.
Grandma Si and Grandpa Tu's lives are entirely in Su Qingyue's hands. I need to figure out how to get through to her.
Obsession, desire, interest, attachment. Which one do I choose?
Mu Chen closed his eyes for a brief moment, running through a thousand different ways he could stop Su Qingyue from killing Grandma Si and Grandpa Tu, even if it meant being dishonest with himself.
It didn't take long. He opened his eyes and looked ahead. He directed the Ancient God Cauldron above his head, absorbing and refining the cultivation pressure hitting his body.
He rose from his knees, lifted his head, and looked straight forward. He raised his hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Mu Chen walked with steady steps, his gaze strong and unwavering, fixed directly on Su Qingyue, who was shouting and berating Grandma Si and Grandpa Tu.
"Wait, Mu Chen! What are you doing?"
"I was trying to save them."
He kept walking away from Sect Master Yun Tian and Elder Han Lao, stepping out of the old courtyard with his eyes fixed straight ahead.
It was clear that he was looking at Su Qingyue's back as she continued tormenting Granny Si and Grandpa Tu.
In Mu Chen's eyes, Su Qingyue's actions had already gone too far for how she was treating the people who had once saved Mu Chen's life.
"Master Su!" Mu Chen called out.
Su Qingyue heard Mu Chen's voice and quickly turned around to look at him. Now he stood directly behind her, his expression serious and full of resolve.
"Mu Chen?"
Without a second thought, Mu Chen summoned the Ancient God Cauldron from his body, letting it float above his palm.
Su Qingyue's eyes widened. She could clearly see the ancient divine artifact she had been searching for all this time.
"I'll go with you, as long as you let them go. Without Granny Si and Grandpa Tu, I might already be dead," Mu Chen said.
"You need this, don't you? Do you need Primordial Origin Qi? I'll supply it for you."
"That's my deal with you."
"Oh, Mu Chen. Right now, you're not in a position that requires me to consider your deal," Su Qingyue replied.
"After I kill them, I can simply take you back to the Tianyin Sect by force."
Mu Chen gave a faint smile and looked at Su Qingyue again, "Did you forget? If I die, the Ancient God Cauldron will disappear with me."
"If you try to force me, I might never give you Primordial Origin Qi, even if you torture me for a thousand years!"
"MU CHEN!" Su Qingyue shouted.
She withdrew the cultivation pressure she had been using on Granny Si and Grandpa Tu and redirected it toward Mu Chen with overwhelming force.
Mu Chen dropped to his knees and coughed up blood, his vision blurring as he looked ahead. But his instincts reacted at once, allowing his golden cauldron to float above his head.
The cauldron absorbed Su Qingyue's cultivation pressure, shocking both her and the people from Tianyin Sect.
That cauldron... it has abilities I didn't know about.
Su Qingyue fell into deep thought as she stared at Mu Chen, still remembering the words he had just spoken.
Slowly, she began to consider Mu Chen's proposal. Perhaps if she gave in to his wishes, she could obtain Primordial Origin Qi without making Mu Chen suffer and grow to hate her.
"Fine," Su Qingyue said, waving her hand to the side and removing the cultivation pressure from Mu Chen.
"I'll agree to your deal."
Mu Chen felt relieved. He rose to his feet and stored the golden cauldron back into his body.
"I want you to release Granny Si and Grandpa Tu. I don't want to return to Tianyin Sect. I want to become a wandering cultivator."
"I'll agree to your request, as long as I go with you," Su Qingyue replied.
Mu Chen fell silent for a moment, then nodded in response. He had to accept that consequence as part of their agreement.
What mattered most to him was that Granny Si and Grandpa Tu could be saved. They could not remain under Su Qingyue's control.
Taking a deep breath, Mu Chen looked at Su Qingyue firmly, "I... accept."