Only after Huiguang chanted the scriptures for crossing over for Shangguan Qingyun twice did Shangguan Youran's weeping begin to subside. It was not that the pain in her heart had passed, but that she had cried herself hoarse.
Huiguang stood up and gently helped Shangguan Youran to her feet, whereupon Shangguan Youran immediately threw herself into his arms.
"Huiguang, I have no father anymore, and my mother has been taken away by people from the Divine Realm. I have no family left, I am an orphan now," Shangguan Youran sobbed, her voice raspy as she wailed.
"Whenever you need me, I will appear by your side." Huiguang said this not out of romantic affection, but out of a shared sense of grief.
However, Shangguan Youran was not satisfied with Huiguang's words. "Why do you use the word 'appear'? Can't you stay with me all the time?" Shangguan Youran tightened her grip around Huiguang, terrified that her last remaining "family member" would also leave her.
A flash of contemplation crossed Huiguang's eyes, and eventually, he nodded.
Having transmigrated to this unfamiliar world, he too was entirely alone without any family; to him, Shangguan Youran could be considered family.
"Youran, shall we go?" Huiguang wiped the tears from the corners of Shangguan Youran's eyes and said.
"Huiguang, I don't know where to go." At this moment, Shangguan Youran felt somewhat lost.
Huiguang took Shangguan Youran's hand. "You should go back to the Thousand Illusions Sect and focus on your cultivation. Even though your father is gone, you still have a mother in the Divine Realm."
"But the Thousand Illusions Sect only has female disciples, you can't go there!" A look of distress appeared on Shangguan Youran's face.
"I can just build a wooden shed not far from you, and besides, I also need to focus on my cultivation."
"Through the events of these past two days, I've realized you were right. This world is cruel, and only the strong have the right to speak. My previous attempts to reform the world and persuade everyone to do good simply won't work." Huiguang seemed to have an epiphany, finally seeing clearly the path he ought to take.
"It's best that you've figured it out. Perhaps one day, when your strength reaches a certain height, your ideas will be accepted by the world." Shangguan Youran tightened her grip on Huiguang's hand, transmitting a trace of encouraging warmth to him.
"Alright! Let's go then." Huiguang smiled at Shangguan Youran.
"Huiguang, carry me."
"Okay!"
Not long after Huiguang and the others left, two groups of people successively arrived at the ruins of the Shangguan Residence. After investigating the footprints at the scene, both groups pursued the direction in which Huiguang and Shangguan Youran had departed.
***
In Xuri City, at the City Lord's Mansion.
Long Shaoyun sat with one leg crossed over the other, enjoying the massage services of an alluring woman, while Sword Madman lay snoring loudly on a bench.
"How much longer until they arrive?" Long Shaoyun asked coldly.
"Young Master, it should be soon, or perhaps they've gone straight to the Dark Hall." The alluring woman stroked Long Shaoyun's face, oozing seductiveness.
"Let's head to the Dark Hall first, then." Long Shaoyun stood up, slapped the alluring woman on her backside, and walked straight out of the room.
The alluring woman gave her waist a seductive twist and hurriedly followed.
In a very dimly lit place, just as Long Shaoyun and the alluring woman stepped through the door, four masked figures—two men and two women—dropped to their knees before them.
"Greetings, Night Lord; greetings, Night Envoy."
"Get up." Long Shaoyun walked right past them and seated himself on a wooden carved skull stool.
"Night Lord, what are your orders in summoning us here?" asked the masked man on the extreme left.
"Tonight, you are to go to the Iron Fist Sect and take the Iron Fist Manual."
"Remember, the leader is a bald man named 'Huiguang', who constantly chants 'Amitabha'. Also, to make the details authentic, have him wear a token at his waist that is identical to my Night Lord Token."
"Night Lord, why is that?" inquired the masked woman ranked second, looking puzzled.
"Lately, you four Night Walking Kings are getting increasingly unruly, asking questions you shouldn't be asking." Long Shaoyun's face turned cold as he rebuked angrily.
"This subordinate knows her mistake!" The four Night Walking Kings hastily knelt to beg forgiveness.
"Enough, go carry out the task."
"Yes!"
"Night Envoy, you may step outside as well." Long Shaoyun stroked the alluring woman's hand and smiled.
"Young Master, let me stay and keep you company." The Night Envoy leaned against Long Shaoyun, somewhat reluctant to obey.
"That's for tonight; right now, I want you out!" Long Shaoyun's face suddenly turned cold.
"Yes!" The Night Envoy trembled and hurried away.
After everyone had vanished, Long Shaoyun walked over to a wall behind his seat. With a flash of tyrannical spiritual energy, he pressed his right hand against the wall.
As the force in his hand increased, a seamless door suddenly materialized in the solid wall.
Long Shaoyun withdrew his hand and stepped through the stone door.
This was a fairly small secret chamber. On one of the walls within the chamber were dozens of square stone niches, and inside nearly all of these niches rested a book.
Long Shaoyun casually picked one up, and four ink-black characters leapt into view—Three Forms of Astonishing Geese!
Long Shaoyun gently brushed the dust off the cover and put the book back in its place.
"Within a radius of three thousand miles, there are seventy-two decent sects. I have already acquired the secret manuals of half of these seventy-two sects, but unfortunately, the vast majority of them are unsuited for my cultivation."
"The Dao Ancestor Realm... when will I ever reach that realm?"
As Long Shaoyun muttered to himself, Huiguang's figure suddenly surfaced in his mind.
"Huiguang, compared to the secret cultivation manuals of the seventy-two sects, I am far more interested in those mysterious and powerful techniques of yours. Perhaps I should add another stone niche here specifically for collecting your martial arts manuals."
With that, Long Shaoyun extended a finger and slashed it across the stone wall. Under his movement, the hard stone wall was sliced open as easily as tofu.
Soon, an extra stone niche for holding secret manuals appeared on the stone wall, and at that moment, Long Shaoyun left the secret chamber.
***
"Huiguang, are you tired?" asked Shangguan Youran softly as she lay on Huiguang's back, her head buried in the nook of his shoulder.
"This little monk is a cultivator after all; how could I possibly get tired carrying someone weighing less than a hundred catties?" Huiguang turned his head and gave Shangguan Youran a smile.
"Then you keep carrying me. I just love the feeling of being pampered like this. My father used to carry me just like this all the time, and often too." Shangguan Youran suddenly grew a bit melancholy again.
"As long as you like it, I'll carry you." Huiguang hastily changed the subject.
"You said that yourself, I didn't force you." Shangguan Youran tugged at Huiguang's ear.
"A person who has left the secular world does not tell lies."
"Huiguang, do you see that tavern ahead?" Shangguan Youran suddenly pointed forward.
"I see it."
"Once we pass that tavern, we'll be leaving Hundred Flowers City. Let's go get something to eat first, otherwise there won't be anywhere to eat along the three-hundred-li journey to the Thousand Illusions Sect."
"Not a single place to eat for three hundred li? What kind of road is that?" Huiguang asked in puzzlement.
"Sect grounds are all located up in the mountains, so the paths we walk are naturally mountain trails." Shangguan Youran tapped Huiguang's bald head lightly.
"Alright, let's go get something to eat first, and buy some food for the road while we're at it."
Just as Huiguang and the other stepped into the tavern, a group of ten people also hurried onto this road, and the one leading them was none other than Jiang Chu.