Chapter 99: As Long as My Beloved Returns, Even If She No Longer Recognizes Me

Great Cold, yet no snow. The biting wind whipped across fur and skin like knives, stinging the face raw.

On the endless snowy plain, a massive yellow canine beast sprinted, its speed so great its paws barely touched the ground—a streak of yellow storm. In its jaws it gently carried a woman, alive or dead, impossible to tell.

High above, Meng Yingxing rode the Ting Tian Sword in pursuit, clearly seeing the powerful, bounding figure below.

“Master, we’re close!”

“I know—I’m already going faster!”

Xiu Qingcheng pushed their speed even higher. The distance to the enormous demonic beast was rapidly shrinking.

Moments ago, when the master and disciple realized the key beast had fled with the woman amid the chaos, Meng Yingxing immediately reactivated Lin Yun Chuan’s search spell and locked onto its position again. Xiu Qingcheng had flown them like mad just to keep it in sight.

They were almost on it, yet still couldn’t quite catch up.

“Master, pardon me!”

Meng Yingxing gritted his teeth, leapt up on the sword, and kicked the hilt with all his might.

The Ting Tian Sword shot forward with explosive force. Borrowing that momentum, Xiu Qingcheng dove like a piercing arrow, slamming diagonally into the ground right in the beast’s path with a resounding shunk, blocking its escape.

The giant canine’s pupils dilated in shock. Its not-very-bright mind chose to skid to a halt instead of simply going around.

Still holding the woman by her clothes, it glanced back at Meng Yingxing descending behind it.

“Human… you saved us earlier. Why chase us now?”

Though its mouth was full, the voice still rang clear—it clearly didn’t speak with its throat.

“I’m not trying to kill you. I just want to ask you some questions.”

This was Meng Yingxing’s first time conversing with a demonic beast—the symbol of evil in the world. The feeling was strangely wonderful, almost exactly like the first time he spoke with Xiu Qingcheng.

Well… talking to a sword and talking to a demonic beast are pretty much the same, right?

Xiu Qingcheng transformed into human form and stood on the beast’s other side, sandwiching it between them. She tilted her head, eyeing Meng Yingxing suspiciously.

“I feel like you’re thinking something incredibly rude right now.”

Meng Yingxing cleared his throat. “How could I? My respect for Master is as bright as the sun and moon.”

Xiu Qingcheng merely hummed, letting it drop.

Meng Yingxing turned his attention back to the towering canine. “Those people chasing you are dead, so you don’t need to keep running for your life.”

He spoke gently, trying to ease its wariness.

The giant beast set the woman down and stared at Meng Yingxing for a long moment, as if assessing him. Then it suddenly shoved its massive head forward and sniffed him vigorously.

Meng Yingxing stood stiff as a board, letting it sniff away.

Whether it smelled something familiar or not, most of the caution in its eyes melted. It opened its mouth and asked bluntly:

“Are you a dog?”

Meng Yingxing’s facial muscles twitched uncontrollably.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Xiu Qingcheng behind the beast doubled over laughing, clutching her stomach.

“Pfft—disciple, disciple, it says you’re a dog!”

Meng Yingxing’s face and voice were equally rigid. “I am not a dog.” He stressed the point. “I’m a human.”

The oblivious canine nodded solemnly. “My mistake. I smelled the same dog in you as in me, but since you say you’re not a dog, then you’re not a dog.”

Meng Yingxing’s face twitched again. This time Xiu Qingcheng was slapping her thigh so hard it turned red, tears of laughter in her eyes.

“You said you have questions. Ask.”

The beast sat down like an obedient oversized dog.

Xiu Qingcheng glanced at the woman on the ground. She wasn’t unconscious, but more like the women they’d seen at the Xu family—eyes open yet empty, as if her three spiritual and seven corporeal souls had been stolen. There was also a ring of red strangulation marks around her neck that hadn’t faded.

“Who is this woman?” Xiu Qingcheng asked first.

“She saved my life when I was little. She’s my master! She’s a very, very good person! Her name is Li Suping!”

At the mention of her, the beast’s tail wagged furiously.

Meng Yingxing and Xiu Qingcheng exchanged a look—they hadn’t expected a completely ordinary woman with no cultivation to share such a bond with a demonic beast.

“Why were you and your master targeted by the Xu family? What did they want with her?” Meng Yingxing pressed.

The moment the Xu family was mentioned, the beast’s eyes flashed with murderous light, low growls rumbling in its throat.

“While I was away, someone kidnapped my master. I followed her scent to that place you call the Xu family and fought one of them—crashed through several windows. But I lost, so I retreated first.”

That explained the yellow fur Meng Yingxing had found in the Xu residence.

The beast continued, “After resting, I went back to rescue her. I tracked her scent to an enormous tree. Many human women were hanging from it—I saw my master among them, and people from the Xu family too. The place felt extremely dangerous. I thought if I didn’t save her then, I’d never see her again. I risked my life, barely got her down, and almost died there. After that, the Xu family hunted us everywhere, so I just kept running.”

The “enormous tree” was undoubtedly the infamous Tree of Calamity whispered about in the region. That also explained the blood-stained yellow fur stuck high in its branches.

“So many women… hanging from the tree?”

Meng Yingxing frowned deeply, the image deeply disturbing.

“It seems the truth behind the missing women is finally coming to light,” Xiu Qingcheng said, looking at him. “And that Xu patriarch kept nudging us to kill this protective beast for him—never expecting it could actually speak.”

A fortunate coincidence. If the beast couldn’t talk, even if they suspected the Xu family, they’d have no solid proof.

Xiu Qingcheng casually leaned against the giant creature, rubbing its fur as if it were perfectly normal, and grinned toothily. “So why can you talk?”

“To let my master understand me, I gave up my Golden Hound clan’s treasure-seeking talent and learned human speech instead.”

It raised its head proudly.

Xiu Qingcheng blinked. “…Are you secretly meowing right now?” The contrast between its majestic appearance and its personality was killing her.

The beast’s eyes lit up. “Awoo! How did you know? My master really did name me Meow-Meow!”

Xiu Qingcheng suddenly felt a headache coming on.

The giant beast’s shadow suddenly loomed as it nudged the unresponsive Li Suping on the ground. Clear demonic eyes filled with sorrow.

“But ever since I saved her, she’s been like this. She doesn’t speak, doesn’t pet my head, doesn’t play with me anymore. I chewed herbs into paste for her wounds, licked her clean, carried her on adventures—but she never reacts.”

“I can speak human words, but I don’t understand humans. Can you please check what’s wrong with my master?”

Its big ears drooped sadly.

Xiu Qingcheng glanced at Meng Yingxing. From his eyes she knew Li Suping’s condition was grave. Both fell silent.

Xiu Qingcheng knelt beside the woman, placed a hand on her forehead, and sent gentle spiritual light coursing through her body.

Meng Yingxing crouched beside her and whispered, “Master, how is she?”

“Still alive, but completely unconscious. There’s some strange residual energy inside her that makes me very uncomfortable.”

Xiu Qingcheng withdrew her hand, unable to diagnose it properly.

“We’ll probably have to get answers from the Xu family. We need to find the truth from them.”

“Ancient tree, ritual array, women hanging from the tree, unknown power…”

“If they need that many women as sacrifices to activate the formation, the Xu family’s hidden strength is not to be underestimated.”

She looked at Meng Yingxing with sudden worry. “I’m suddenly not very confident about sending you against them with your current power.”

Meng Yingxing gave her a reassuring smile.

“Master, we’ve come this far—we can’t back out now. And… you’ve got my back, right? You’ll help me?”

Xiu Qingcheng gazed at her disciple and suddenly laughed, relieved.

“Who gave you such courage? Oh, right—it was me.”

“Then let’s pay the Xu family another visit. Even if we can’t save all those women… At the very least, I don’t want to see another victim like Li Suping.”

At their side, the giant beast curled protectively around the tiny woman who had once been its whole world, hoping she would one day stroke its head again with warm, gentle hands.