Chapter 461 : Fallen to Mud
461: Fallen to Mud
At this moment, Sect Leader Qingxiao's gaze was sharp and piercing, causing anyone who met it to feel a pang in their heart.
Even Yun Qingyue, who had always been cool and composed, couldn't help feeling tense when suddenly fixed with such a gaze from Sect Leader Qingxiao—their relationship had always been good. As her uncle-master, he had not only watched Yun Qingyue grow up but had also frequently provided guidance during her youth. Even when her background was exposed and she was found to have connections with the demonic path, he hadn't been heartless enough to expel her from the sect.
Yun Qingyue believed that if Sect Leader Qingxiao had been at Mingzong Mountain that year, his attitude toward her would definitely have been predominantly protective.
Yet such a person, such an elder, was now looking at her with such a piercing gaze. At this moment, Yun Qingyue's heart was truly turbulent, even subconsciously wondering if she had done something wrong.
Beside her, Jiang Mo immediately sensed the abnormal atmosphere. Out of protection for her beloved, she instinctively stepped forward to shield Yun Qingyue. However, just as she took a step, before she could shield anyone, she was lightly brushed aside by Sect Leader Qingxiao—Jiang Mo had only heard that Sect Leader Qingxiao was also at the Fusion stage, but had never seen him in action. Now, with just a casual move, she realized his formidable power.
Pushed back with a seemingly effortless force that deflected tremendous strength, Jiang Mo staggered to the side a couple of steps before stabilizing herself. She hurriedly looked back, fearing something would happen, but Sect Leader Qingxiao merely approached Yun Qingyue and said two words: "Don't move."
Yun Qingyue truly obeyed without moving, perhaps out of trust, or perhaps due to pressure.
Fortunately, Sect Leader Qingxiao harbored no ill intentions toward her. Seeing Yun Qingyue's compliance, he raised his hand toward her. Midway, he stopped and instead pointed at her hair, asking: "Qingyue, what flower have you pinned in your hair?"
Neither Jiang Mo nor Yun Qingyue had expected such a strong reaction from Sect Leader Qingxiao over a question about a flower. Both found it somewhat absurd, but faced with the Sect Leader's inquiry, they still honestly answered: "This, I don't know either. It's just a wildflower picked from Purple Cloud Peak..."
Before finishing, Yun Qingyue suddenly paused—"wildflower" was just Jiang Mo's term. The fact was that she simply didn't recognize this flower and had never seen it among wildflowers before. Her own lack of recognition could be explained by limited knowledge, but now it seemed the Sect Leader hadn't seen this type of flower either. And not only had he not seen it, but upon first sight, he was also extremely concerned.
Yun Qingyue was a perceptive person and immediately sensed something amiss. She instinctively raised her hand to remove the flower, but stopped midway: "Uncle Master Qingxiao, is there a problem with this flower?"
She asked this because she couldn't see it herself, and at this moment, those who could see the flower's condition included not only Sect Leader Qingxiao but also Jiang Mo beside her.
Initially, Jiang Mo hadn't noticed anything wrong either, until Sect Leader Qingxiao suddenly directed his attention to that unknown flower. Her gaze then involuntarily fell upon the light blue flower. At first glance, nothing seemed unusual, except perhaps that the flower looked slightly wilted after being worn for half a day. But upon closer inspection, she could see black energy swirling in the flower's center.
In that instant, Jiang Mo's eyes widened, and her heartbeat even paused for half a beat. Then, a wave of panic washed over her. Without time to think, she directly reached out to pluck the flower, not even stopped by Sect Leader Qingxiao's verbal warning.
The only thing she remembered to do was cover her hand with a layer of protective golden light, because she really didn't want to soak in the lightning pool again—the lightning pools were clearly graded now, and if she had to soak now, the pool's power would definitely be more formidable than the previous large lightning pool. Besides, previously she had been reluctant to leave because only she and Senior Sister were there. Now, with so many people soaking here, who would want to stay and suffer?
The little tiger was quite reckless, grabbing the flower from Yun Qingyue's hair in one swift motion. Then, not daring to maintain contact, she threw it directly onto the ground. As it happened, this place was filled with lightning; besides the lightning pools, even the air seemed to be interspersed with electricity. So as soon as the flower hit the ground, currents of electricity surged up to it, blue electric light flickering.
Jiang Mo squinted, observing, and after a moment hesitantly asked: "After being electrified, is this flower... is it somehow melting?"
Sect Leader Qingxiao was also carefully observing, momentarily silent. Across from him, Yun Qingyue also said nothing, only gazing at Jiang Mo with beautiful eyes. From those beautiful glassy phoenix eyes to her overall aura and demeanor, she seemed to be exuding frost.
Did Jiang Mo not feel it? Of course she did. Her perception was acute; it felt like thorns on her back.
Yet Jiang Mo dared not look up, much less meet Yun Qingyue's gaze—she knew her actions had been rash, especially considering that even Sect Leader Qingxiao hadn't dared to reach out and pick the flower right away. But this flower was one she had given to Senior Sister, one she had personally pinned for her. If this flower truly had some problem that might harm Senior Sister... Jiang Mo felt suffocated just thinking about it.
So she admitted she had acted impulsively and indeed felt too guilty to meet Senior Sister's gaze, yet deep in her heart, she had no regrets.
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Sect Leader Qingxiao had no time to concern himself with the relationship issues of these two juniors, nor any intention to address their little tension. His full attention was drawn to the light blue flower on the ground—having lived for over a thousand years and traveled almost the entire cultivation world during his journeys, visiting countless secret realms and dangerous places, he was certain he had never seen this type of flower. Moreover, Jiang Mo was right; the flower was indeed melting.
Initially, it was just a slight melting at the edges of the petals, hardly noticeable, which might have been mistaken for normal wilting. But as the ground current penetrated it, the entire petal began to deform, like a wax flower beginning to melt when exposed to heat.
Sect Leader Qingxiao had never seen this type of flower, but he didn't believe it was a fake wax flower either.
He stared intently at this strange flower. At first, only the petals were deforming, with the black energy in the flower's center still faintly visible. But later, the entire flower began to deform, as if some structure had been broken, and the previously faint black energy suddenly became more apparent.
Even Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue, who were in the midst of their tension, were startled by this sudden change. Especially Jiang Mo, who had suffered from demonic energy attachment before. She immediately jumped back several steps, like a startled large cat.
Yun Qingyue, who was still angry, couldn't help but glance at her. She opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed back her concern and teasing remarks.
Jiang Mo was still apprehensive, patting her chest as she asked: "What kind of flower is this? Why does it look so sinister? And what's that black energy? Could it be demonic energy again?!"
For the moment, no one could answer her. Meanwhile, Sect Leader Qingxiao had lifted his robe and crouched down, carefully observing.
The observation didn't take long. With the stimulation of the lightning, the flower's changes accelerated. From full bloom to gradually melting, then to decaying into mud, the whole process took no more than a quarter of an hour.
Vaguely, a stuffy, rotting fragrance permeated the air after the flower's decay.
Jiang Mo only needed to smell a hint of it to feel stifled, convinced it couldn't be anything good. She raised her hand to block Yun Qingyue and was about to pull her back. Yun Qingyue, still upset, didn't ignore her this time, even cooperatively stepping back two paces.
Sect Leader Qingxiao also smelled that fragrance. His actions were even more decisive than Jiang Mo's; he directly waved his sleeve, enveloping the decayed "flower mud" in a barrier. Thus, the flower's fragrance could no longer spread, and the black energy vaguely emanating after the flower's decay was also contained in a small space. However, the latter was somewhat uncontrollable; the barrier couldn't hold it. Finally, Sect Leader Qingxiao directed a bolt of lightning to attach to the barrier, making it behave.
After completing all this, Sect Leader Qingxiao finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned his gaze to the other two present.
Jiang Mo still maintained her protective stance over Yun Qingyue, her nervous appearance somewhat amusing. But the person she was protecting behind her could feel her genuine concern, and so the anger in her heart unconsciously diminished.
Sect Leader Qingxiao didn't bother with these two's private matters. Pointing at the "flower mud" on the ground, he said to them: "This flower must have mutated. It looks somewhat similar to the Heart-Confusing Flower, but also entirely different." After a pause, he asked once more: "Was this flower truly discovered by you within the sect? Besides this one, are there others?"
Having witnessed the flower's eerie nature, Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue naturally understood the seriousness of the matter. Yun Qingyue also turned her gaze toward Jiang Mo, who immediately shook her head and waved her hands: "I found this flower by chance on Purple Cloud Peak; I've never seen it before. And wasn't my Purple Cloud Peak just sliced off recently? I've planted a field of Purple Cloud Flowers, and this one flower was the most unique, which caught my eye."
Two layers of meaning could be inferred from these words. First, Jiang Mo picked it because of its uniqueness; at a different time and place, she might not have noticed such a "small wildflower." So whether there were others in the sect, Jiang Mo might not have seen them, or might not have paid attention. Second, clustered plants compete for nutrients; in a field of Purple Cloud Flowers, it wouldn't be easy for this wildflower to stand out in such a short time.
Sect Leader Qingxiao understood and didn't intend to dwell on this with the two. He immediately issued orders for everyone to search for traces of this wildflower within the sect. Seeing this, Jiang Mo volunteered: "I picked this flower, so I'm most familiar with it. Let me go look."