Chapter 148: The Identity of Night Waya

“Where is this?” Ye Wuya shouted repeatedly, but there was no response. The place was pitch black, so dark that he couldn’t see his own hand.

“Why can’t I feel my body?”

“Am I dead?” Ye Wuya muttered to himself, puzzled.

“Xiao Xiao! Xiao Xiao, are you there?”

Still, no reply came! It was as if he were utterly alone in this void.

The boundless darkness bored Ye Wuya, drifting aimlessly like a lost soul without purpose.

Loneliness and solitude gnawed at him.

“Is this what a world without light looks like?”

“Am I really dead?”

“Where exactly is this place?”

“If I’m dead, why am I still conscious?”

A deep sense of helplessness overwhelmed him, making him restless.

There were so many unfinished tasks, so many responsibilities awaiting him.

He hadn’t rescued Ye Ruyue and Ye Ruxue yet, nor had he made Xue Qing fall in love with him or fulfilled his promises.

“I must not die! I cannot succumb to despair. This has to be a dream. It must be a dream,” Ye Wuya kept hypnotizing himself.

“I will find a way out. I must be trapped somewhere.”

Outside the void, Jiang Xiaoxiao finally relaxed as Ye Wuya’s spiritual aura stabilized.

If his aura remained weak, she feared she would have burst into tears.

In her eyes, Ye Wuya’s current state was likely a lingering aftereffect of the great battle from thousands of years ago—the Peak Battle!

Ye Wuya had once said he had slept for millennia since the war of the Emperors before awakening. This time, he must have fallen into a similar slumber.

Jiang Xiaoxiao pondered. Although she didn’t know exactly what had happened to Ye Wuya, he was, after all, the Old Blood Demon Ancestor. Even gravely injured, he shouldn’t have been harmed here in the remote Yan region.

Once Ye Wuya’s aura stabilized, Jiang Xiaoxiao sighed in relief. With his aura steady, there was no immediate danger.

She stood and headed outside. Since his aura had stabilized, she no longer needed to worry so much. Ye Wuya had entrusted her with ensuring Ye Yunque’s safety.

Outside, she happened upon Nalan Susu arriving hurriedly with a young girl.

Dongfang Yanran looked at the veiled woman with confusion. Ye Yunque had not returned all night, causing her great anxiety. She had searched everywhere Ye Yunque frequented but found no trace.

Seeing Sect Leader Nalan Susu arrive, she asked about Ye Yunque’s whereabouts.

“Is she Ye Yunque?” Jiang Xiaoxiao asked coldly.

“No,” Nalan Susu shook her head. “She is Dongfang Yanran.”

“Where is Ye Yunque?” Jiang Xiaoxiao suddenly felt a bad premonition.

“Yanran, tell her,” Nalan Susu instructed the girl beside her.

“Yes, Sect Leader,” Dongfang Yanran nodded and began to speak.

Jiang Xiaoxiao listened quietly. Soon, Dongfang Yanran finished.

She explained that last night, she had trained with Ye Yunque. Later, Ye Yunque suddenly left for unknown reasons. Assuming something was wrong, Yanran hadn’t worried at first.

But by morning, finding Ye Yunque still missing, she searched all her usual haunts without success.

Ye Yunque was missing.

“Have you searched throughout Qingyun Sect?” Jiang Xiaoxiao inquired.

“We’ve searched everywhere—no sign of Ye Yunque,” Nalan Susu replied.

Sudden disappearance, a whole night gone, no news.

“Keep this matter confidential. I will take personal responsibility. Besides you, no one is allowed near this place! Otherwise—” Jiang Xiaoxiao snorted coldly. “You know the consequences!”

“Understood,” Nalan Susu nodded.

Jiang Xiaoxiao shook a bracelet in her hand, from which a small golden bell jingled softly.

Moments later, two figures exuding demonic aura materialized from the void.

They bowed deeply toward Jiang Xiaoxiao, kneeling on one knee.

“Demonic Shadows 9527 and 9528, greetings, Saintess.”

“You two, listen carefully: anyone approaching within a hundred meters of my master’s courtyard, no matter who they are, is to be killed on sight!”

“Understood!” the two shadows responded in unison.

Jiang Xiaoxiao then glanced at Nalan Susu.

“I will be away for a while. My master is in your care. If anything happens, Qingyun Sect will have no reason to continue!”

“Agreed!” Nalan Susu nodded firmly. She had witnessed Jiang Xiaoxiao’s power; to destroy their sect was no empty threat.

As for why Jiang Xiaoxiao was leaving, she dared not ask.

Jiang Xiaoxiao cast one last look at the courtyard before flying out beyond Qingyun Sect.

Though Ye Wuya’s condition had stabilized, prospects were still grim. He needed to find items to heal his depleted spiritual consciousness and also search for Ye Yunque.

Dongfang Yanran stared in shock at the scene. Nalan Susu, one of the three great powers of the Yan region, was bowing so humbly to a single person, completely submissive.

Who was this woman?

And who was her master?

Suspiciously, Yanran gazed at the small courtyard below, feeling an inexplicable familiarity with whatever lay inside.

“Yanran, go back first. Don’t worry about Yunque. Someone will personally search for her. And do not mention her disappearance to anyone. Understand?”

Nalan Susu’s face was filled with helplessness; she knew Yanran was the most worried about Ye Yunque’s disappearance.

“Understood, Sect Leader,” Dongfang Yanran nodded. Losing Ye Yunque unsettled her; after so long together, a sudden disappearance naturally brought worry and unease.

“Go back and train well. The Mountain Suppression Secret Realm will open soon. Prepare yourself,” Nalan Susu instructed.

“Mm,” Yanran responded, casting another glance at the courtyard before riding her divine rainbow back along her original path.

Nalan Susu sighed as she watched Jiang Xiaoxiao depart.

She herself was equally vexed. The alliance between the Burning Sun Sect and the Yan region troubled her; agreeing to ‘sell herself out’ caused her unease; and now Ye Wuya’s sudden predicament only added to her anxiety.

Looking at the two figures slowly melding into the spatial void, her curiosity about Ye Wuya’s identity deepened. Such a powerful Golden Core disciple with such mysterious and formidable subordinates.

“Wait!” Nalan Susu suddenly remembered something.

“Those two just called Jiang Xiaoxiao ‘Saintess’?”

“Could it be...?”

Nalan Susu considered a shocking possibility.