"You just need to keep an eye on the girl in the green dress," Xu Taiping said, a little helplessly.
"Alright," Bai Yu nodded.
"The girl in green is currently standing with a white-dressed young girl. The others have scattered into the red maple forest ahead, likely preparing to hunt some demonic beast."
Bai Yu gave a detailed account of the scene below, seemingly to show off his exceptional eyesight. This was exactly what Xu Taiping wanted to know.
"Senior Sister Zijing really came to Qingfeng Gorge... If I'm not mistaken, the beast they are hunting should be that tiger demon." Xu Taiping silently speculated.
"Huh? Xu Taiping, how did you know there is a girl in green down there?" Bai Yu suddenly asked, realizing something.
"That's a sister I met outside the mountain. She told me she would come to Qingfeng Gorge for a hunt soon," Xu Taiping explained, calmly making up a reason.
"Oh? So, you're really here to meet the girl in green, not to hunt yellow goats with me, right?"
To Xu Taiping's surprise, Bai Yu didn't get angry from being lied to. Instead, he seemed quite interested and asked Xu Taiping more questions.
"Brother Bai Yu, to be honest, hunting the yellow goats is real, but meeting this sister is also real," Xu Taiping finally admitted.
"Xu Taiping, you must have feelings for that girl in green, right?" Bai Yu suddenly asked with a mischievous smile.
"Huh?"
Xu Taiping was caught off guard by Bai Yu's sudden comment.
"Where are you two in your relationship now? Have you held hands? Have you kissed? Or maybe... heh heh..."
Before Xu Taiping could think of how to respond, Bai Yu launched a series of increasingly embarrassing questions.
"Wh-what? Brother Bai Yu, me and Senior Sister Zijing are just friends..." Xu Taiping stammered.
"Friends? You humans, men like women to hold hands and kiss, don't you?" Bai Yu asked, looking at Xu Taiping with wide eyes.
Xu Taiping felt a cold sweat running down his back.
"Who taught him all this? White Uncle? No, it can't be!" Xu Taiping thought to himself.
"Roar!"
Just as Xu Taiping struggled with how to respond to Bai Yu's questions, a deafening tiger's roar suddenly echoed from the forest below.
Even from this distance, the roar sent a chill down Xu Taiping's spine.
"Oh? It turns out the one they are hunting is that old tiger who likes to raise ghost servants," Bai Yu remarked nonchalantly, almost mocking the tiger demon.
"You know this tiger demon, Brother Bai Yu?" Xu Taiping looked up in curiosity.
"I heard my father mention it before. Back when it was still a young tiger, the West Wind Pavilion didn't pay attention to it. Now, they can't even do anything about it. All they can do is send disciples down the mountain to hunt it. But this tiger is quite crafty and has raised five or six ghost servants, so it has been running wild in the mountains for years," Bai Yu answered casually before suddenly turning to Xu Taiping, his gaze sharp.
"You're not asking me to help with your little lover, are you?"
"Who—who said she's my little lover?" Xu Taiping jumped, nearly falling off Bai Yu's back in shock.
"I'll tell you the truth," Bai Yu continued, "the spiritual birds of Yunlu Mountain have a soul contract with Qingxuan Sect. Unless their lives are at risk or they get permission from the sect, they can't interfere in conflicts, even to help Qingxuan disciples."
"Brother Bai Yu, I'm not asking you to intervene. I just want you to keep an eye on the situation and see how things are going," Xu Taiping answered earnestly.
"That's fine, but I won't do it for free," Bai Yu said after a brief pause, his eyes glinting mischievously.
"I can give you ten merit coins," Xu Taiping said generously.
"I don't want merit coins." Bai Yu shook his head. Then, with a sly smile, he added, "But after you've kissed that girl in green, you have to tell me what it's like. Is it sweet? Is it fragrant?"
In the Red Maple Forest
"Roar!"
With a deafening roar, a gust of wind swept through the entire red maple forest, sending leaves flying into the air.
"Wuyu, we should hide," Liu Zijing said, pulling Wuyu's arm. Stepping on a fallen maple leaf, Liu Zijing leapt gracefully onto the top of a giant maple tree, blending perfectly with the surroundings.
From their vantage point, Liu Zijing and Wuyu finally saw the tiger demon and its ghost servants engaging with Lu Chen.
Because the main goal was to lure the enemy, Lu Chen often fought in a hit-and-run manner, rarely directly confronting the tiger demon and its ghost servants. Instead, he used his agile movements to dodge and harass them.
"Clang!"
As Lu Chen lured the ghost servants and the tiger demon into the agreed-upon location, he suddenly drew his sword. With a twist of his body, he slashed at the two ghost servants.
"Clang!"
The sword energy, condensed with true essence, rang out as it cleaved through the two ghost servants like spinning rings of light.
"Bang!"
In an instant, the two ghost servants were left with deep wounds, their bodies blasted backward by the powerful impact of the sword energy. Unlike regular sword injuries, these strikes, infused with pure sword energy, not only damaged their bodies and vital organs but also harmed their ghostly souls.
"Ah!!"
The two ghost servants cried out in pain as they rolled on the ground.
"No wonder Senior Sister said sword cultivators can cut through anything," Wuyu, who had been silent until now, murmured, her expression neutral.
"Senior Sister is right. Sword cultivators have the strongest killing power, but the training is incredibly harsh. They must carve open their vital points and condense multiple times their true essence into a single sword strike. Talents like Senior Brother Lu Chen are very rare," Liu Zijing nodded in agreement.
Wuyu didn't respond. Instead, she quietly observed the situation with a calm and unflinching gaze.
What Liu Zijing didn't know was that inside Wuyu's sleeve, a strand of sword energy, like a serpent, spiraled around her wrist.
"Roar!!"
At that moment, the tiger demon's massive body leapt out, crushing several maple trees with a single bound. It then swung a claw, sending three sharp, wind-like claw strikes toward Lu Chen.