Chapter 150: [Bonus - ] 4.15 Ningning
As soon as Heimo left the village, his light blue robes which he borrowed from Jingxue-Jun instantly blackened from the edges of his sleeves down to the hem. Gold patterns crawled up from the hidden place beneath the seam as he tied his long hair up into a high ponytail with a gold ribbon. Everywhere he stepped, the resentful energy that was hiding in the dark shadows, underneath the crack of the cobblestone, and in between the uninhabited houses crept out and swirled around him like a group of dancers with flowy dresses. "Take me home." Heimo commanded and the resentful energy swallowed him whole.
When it finally dispersed, Heimo’s figure vanished from the spot and what was left on the ground beneath his feet was a patch of wilted, brown grass that looked conspicuously eerie surrounded by lush, healthy green meadow.
The home Heimo was talking about was the base of the Demonic Sect. It was built right atop of a dormant volcano, the solid ashes as the ground and the greyed, stormy sky as the roof. The weather was humid and dry all year along, the heat was sweltering. The air was thick with demonic energy and no sane person would dare to venture unless they wanted to risk having qi deviation.
"Shijie!" Heimo called out as soon as he burst in through the door. Almost every member of the sect were there, scattered across the main hall with their faces pale and solemn. In an instant, Heimo’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach. His eyes darted around wildly in search of a familiar figure. "Uncle Liu, where’s Shijie? How is Ningning? Am I... Am I too late?!"
"She—"
"I am here." A petite woman stepped in from the inner hallway. She was still dressed as the flower selling girl, proof that the matter was urgent enough that she couldn’t bother to change. Alas, the trepidation and timidity she showed when she bumped into him on purpose earlier was nowhere to be found, replacing it with sharp intelligence and wits. Now that Heimo could take a good look at her, he found dark circles below her eyes and the obvious signs of exhaustion between her brows. "You’re fast, Lan."
Heimo almost bristled. "How can I not when you suddenly appeared and told me that Ningning needs me?! Haven’t we already agreed not to appear in the same place at the same time? Don’t you know who was with me earlier?!"
"Jingxue-Jun." Luqiu Hong spat out venomously. "You know well what kind of cultivator he is. What are you doing with that kind of person, Luqiu Lan?!"
"I—" Heimo was flabbergasted and his anger was doused in an instant, replaced with a shame he couldn’t describe, not when his Shijie was looking at him with such a piercing look as if she could see through his soul. He fumbled to change the topic. "Anyway! I know for certain what I am doing! Don’t worry about me, Shijie. More importantly, how is Ningning?"
Luqiu Hong sighed and led Heimo inside toward Ningning’s room — Luqiu Ning, the youngest daughter of the couple who took Heimo in so technically it was his half sister.