“Friends of the imperial clan of Zither were unnecessarily my friends,” thought Ronghua.

“You are messing with the wrong people!” shouted Xu Chao.

“All intruders shall be killed today!” shouted Xia Pumo.

Xia Pumo said that with a grim look while pointing at the crowds with his sword. Murong Zhe was stunned. He then quickly moved his position to cover the person standing behind him.

Xu Chao noticed the changes up there and wanted to see who that person was. But his sight was blocked, so that person’s identity remained mysterious to him.

“Mo!” said Xia Puyang worriedly, for he had no clue why his brother would talk like that.

“Patriarch Yue, are you betraying us now?” asked Liu Shaoting.

Yue Wenyan waved his fan without any other reactions.

But for a few seconds and a few seconds only, Liu Shaoting found something strange on Yue Wenyan’s face, which seemed as if Yue Wenyan was hypnotized. “Though he soon recovered from that, I am sure that Yue Wenyan does not want to fight the imperial clan of Zither. I knew that he is Xia Puyang’s friend. Maybe I should not attack him, for that would create new troubles for us,” thought Liu Shaoting.

Shortly after that, the intruders decided to focus their attack on the marital formation’s shield. “Though this martial formation is indeed powerful, Yang Quan has managed to break it a little all by himself, and we should be able to break it together,” thought Xu Chao.

“Be careful!” shouted someone.

Yang Quan attacked again with his fists. Xia Pumo was the closest to the martial formation, and his position could soon become precarious if the martial formation were broken by the attackers.

Ronghua, Xia Pumo, and Xia Puyang all took a step back. Within expectations, the martial formation did not last for long without the support from the others.

Xu Chao saw a chance in that.

“Patriarch Liu, Patriarch Yue, let us help Patriarch Yang!” Shouted Xu Chao.

“Sure!” said Patriarch Liu.

“... Ok,” responded Patriarch Yue hesitantly.

All of the patriarchs and their apprentices channeled their spiritual powers to Yang Quan.

Yue Wenyan was standing in the far back. He hooked his fingers to inform his apprentices not to try their best.

However, the intruders still managed to break the martial formation.

Upon seeing that, Ronghua said, “Let’s go!”

“A melee involving so many people over a quarrel is not my style,” thought Ronghua, “But the intruders’ responses indeed angered me!”

Ronghua was showing much restraint already, for she would have already responded with violence in the past. But at that moment...she was afraid that she was not powerful enough to do that.

She came here today to solve the problems of the imperial clan of Zither. But at that moment, she realized that resorting to violence was inevitable. “These people cannot last for long without the martial formation,” thought Ronghua.

“Mo, step back!” shouted Xia Puyang.

Upon hearing that, Xia Pumo quickly stepped back. Through the space in between Xia Pumo and Murong Zhe, Ronghua stepped up and pulled Xia Puyang away. Ronghua then made a thrust with her sword against Yang Quan, who had no choice but to take that thrust as he had no time to dodge Ronghua’s attack.

“AHHH!” shouted Yang Quan.

Though Yang Quan had the intruders’ spiritual powers in his body, Ronghua’s attack was still a grave blow to him.

The other intruders were shocked by Yang Quan’s reaction, and they had no clue who the attacker was, so they quickly retrieved their spiritual powers.

Liu Shaoting was not far away from Yang Quan. Thus, he was also affected by that attack. He tried to relieve his injury while staring at the person in white. “Who are you? You’ve been hiding in the back for so long, and fatally injured us when you debut! Are you...?” shouted Liu Shaoting.

“That’s impossible,” said Xu Chao. “Ronghua does not know how to use a sword, and her weapon is a fan,” thought Xu Chao.

“If this person were Ronghua, she would have already taken out her fan and kill us all,” thought Xu Chao.

“Only a tiny handful of people survived Ronghua’s attack back then!” thought Xu Chao.

Liu Shaoting had also heard that Ronghua had something in her hand when she was saving Xia Pumo, and that thing was a fan. “That fan was powerful. Are they finally asking Ronghua to fight after we’ve broken the martial formation?” wondered Liu Shaoting.

“Patriarch Xu, I don’t think that woman is here. Don’t scare us,” said someone in the crowd.

After the intruders had broken the martial formation, they flooded into the imperial clan of Zither. Xia Pumo led his fellow apprentices’ retreat while protecting them from any possible surprise attack from the intruders.

Ronghua could not see anything and was carried by Rongnuan. She lay on his back quietly. “It’s surprising that Rongnuan was not scared this time,” thought Ronghua.

“Ronghua, what should we do?” asked Murong Zhe.

Murong Zhe walked to Ronghua and asked that question anxiously. “Mo would be greatly hurt if the intruders were to destroy the imperial clan of Zither, and that’s because of my presence here. Though the intruders must be planning that for long, they could not attack at all without a proper reason,” thought Murong Zhe.

Ronghua replied lightheartedly, “No worries. I am here.”

“What do you mean?” asked Murong Zhe.

Murong Zhe was upset, and said, “I will be haunting you forever long if the imperial clan of Zither was destroyed!”

Upon hearing that, Ronghua became impatient and was about to lose her temper, but still, she managed to put on a smile. “The imperial clan of Zither will not be destroyed for sure. Otherwise, how could I get my army through alchemy?” replied Ronghua calmly.

“What? Alchemy?” asked Murong Zhe.

Ronghua became serious and replied, “Don’t ask too many questions. Knowing too much will not serve you well.”

Murong Zhe was discontented with Ronghua’s reply. “I am your contractual monster. Shouldn’t I know everything you are about to do?” asked Murong Zhe.

Ronghua smiled coldly, which frightened Murong Zhe. “I thought you do not know that you are my contractual monster!” said Ronghua.

That was rather confusing to Murong Zhe, so he tried to clarify his doubts with other questions. But he was intimidated by Rongnuan’s grim look.

“Lone wolves!” shouted Ronghua.

Ronghua’s shouting quickly spread through the open area in the imperial clan of Zither. Wolves’ howling soon ensued.

“Ah-woo!!” howled the wolves.

Some intruders were swallowed before they could react.

The lone wolves stopped the intruders from catching up with Ronghua. Most of the intruders were soon eaten up by the lone wolves.

Ronghua frowned and said, “Don’t eat too much! They could pass their sickness to you guys!”

The lone wolves’ howling was so loud that the intruder’s body organs started to shake.

“What... what kind of wolves are they?” asked an intruder.

“Don’t know. I have never seen one in my life!” replied another intruder.

“How could a wolf be so big! They must be wolf monsters!” said another intruder.

Upon hearing that, Ronghua nearly laughed her way off of Rongnuan’s back. “Wolf monsters? That’s hilarious!” thought Ronghua.

Murong Zhe said, “If you summoned a bird, I think they would think that’s a bird monster and shout out their fear!”

Ronghua, “....”

“Will you die if you stop teasing me?” thought Ronghua.

“Let’s talk business,” said Ronghua. She then became serious and put her hands around Rongnuan. “Will you be able to perform the Ice Lotus of the Heart’s Blood if you’ve got a body?” asked Ronghua.

Murong Zhe was stroking his hear and looking at Xia Pumo and the apprentices looting the imperial clan of Zither when he heard Ronghua’s question. He nearly fell and was worried that he might have heard that wrong, so he asked about that.

“What did you say?” asked Murong Zhe.

Ronghua repeated, “The Ice Lotus of the Heart’s Blood!”

He knew that Ronghua was not kind. “The Ice Lotus of the Heart’s Blood is not something good. I think she must be aware of that!” thought Murong Zhe.

“Do you know what are you saying?” asked Murong Zhe. Ronghua nodded naturally and said, “Of course I know. I am asking whether you can use the Ice Lotus of the Heart’s Blood or not.”

Murong Zhe licked his lips and said, “I am not sure about that even if I still have my body.”

Ronghua did not believe Murong Zhe. “That skill could solve a lot of problems easily for him. I don’t believe he wouldn’t use it,” thought Ronghua.

Murong Zhe noticed Ronghua’s disbelief from watching her eyes.

“You don’t believe me? The Ice Lotus of the Heart’s Blood is a forbidden art. It would inflict great pains on the user every time it’s performed. I have only used that once during my prime,” replied Murong Zhe.

Ronghua, “If I lend you my body, would you be able to use that?”

“What do you mean?” asked Murong Zhe.

“That’s...” said Ronghua while pulling Murong Zhe’s arm into her body. “That means we will use that forbidden art together. The pains it would inflict are negligible to me, and don’t worry about the consequences,” continued Ronghua.

Murong Zhe replied in an unfriendly tone, “You will never give notice to the others in advance, will you? What if I can’t get out of your body after you just put me in?”

“Be assured!” said Ronghua carelessly. She then walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. She then summoned a swirling circle in her hand, attracting all the surrounding spiritual powers to the circle. The congregated spiritual power shone in great quantity.

“Ronghua, are you crazy?! I would never dare to use that thing! Why are you using that?” shouted Murong Zhe.

Murong Zhe was at the brink of insanity as he dared not to use that thing for long. What was more, he nearly ignored its existence after he had met Mo.

Xia Pumo understood a bit of their conversation, so he stepped up and asked worriedly, “Ronghua, is this really safe? Will Zhe be hurt?”

Ronghua did not reply. She continued her actions and tried to gather more spiritual power. She did not improvise on the idea of using the Ice Lotus of the Heart’s Blood. That was a deliberate act after carefully considering whether if that skill could achieve what she wanted. There was nothing Murong Zhe could do as he knew that Ronghua would not change her mind once she had made a decision. After seeing Xia Pumo’s worried face, Murong Zhe was touched and asked, “Ronghua, is this really safe?”

He had got a sweetheart to love after all.

“Ronghua!” shouted Jun Lang.

Jun Lang came to Ronghua and interrupted Murong Zhe. “Is there anything I can help?” asked Jun Lang.

Ronghua did not turn back and said, “You should go to the east. Some apprentices there are struggling for their survival. Go and help them as Partriach Xia was too busy to do that.”

Upon hearing that, Jun Lang quickly became invisible and left.

“Oh, what did you say?” asked Ronghua.

Murong Zhe, “….” “Ronghua, how could you ignore me!” thought Murong Zhe.

While the others were all trying to solve this crisis, Rongnuan realized that the situation was dire and started to think about how he could help the others.

“Huahua, I...” said Rongnuan.

“Rongnuan, just stay behind me and don’t go anywhere. Understand?” said Ronghua.

Ronghua knew what Rongnuan thought before he had finished, and Rongnuan could not even finish his sentence.

“But... Huahua, I want to help you,” said Rongnuan.

Ronghua sighed and dissipated the spiritual power in her hand. She then walked to Rongnuan and looked at him with an embarrassed look. “Rongnuan, I will need to protect you and the others at the same time, do you understand that? I am weak now, and the enemies will not go easy with us. What should I do if something happens to you? So please just wait till everything is settled,” said Ronghua.

Stunned speechless, Rongnuan opened his mouth in the realization that he was holding Ronghua back. “I am sorry for being a burden,” said Rongnuan.

Ronghua knew that he was blaming himself. “There was nothing I could do. I cannot spare any efforts to protect him now,” thought Ronghua.

“Why don’t you call your sister to help?” asked Rongnuan.

Speaking of Qingyi, Ronghua smiled in embarrassment. “She has her own things to do, and we should not bother her with the problems we could solve by ourselves. What’s more, she is still recovering, too,” said Ronghua.

Rongnuan, “Sure.”

Ronghua looked at others and reminded them concisely, “It could be a bit cold later.”

She then noticed Rongnuan was not wearing much, so she thought about that and took out a white coat for him. “It might be a little cold later. Put it on and don’t run around,” said Ronghua.

Ronghua put the white coat on Rongnuan and stroked his hair.

Rongnuan held the coat tight and asked, “What about you?”

Ronghua held Rongnuan’s hand, letting him felt the cold in her hand. “A little bit of cold does not matter to me,” said Ronghua.

“Why are her hands always so cold,” thought Rongnuan.

Murong Zhe was unhappy about that. “Mo can feel the cold too. Give him a coat, then! Why don’t you show your kindness to the others and take care of Mo for me? You care about Rongnuan too much that you are ignoring the feelings of the others!” said Murong Zhe.

Ronghua tried to withhold her anger but failed. “What? I don’t have any favorites!”

Murong Zhe, “Oh, is that really true? As your contractual monster, I have never received any care from you! Yes, you did find me a body, but you don’t care about my sweetheart at all.”

“Zhe!” Xia Pumo interrupted. “That’s inaccurate, Ronghua is already kind enough to me,” thought Xia Pumo.

Murong Zhe snorted and said, “If I don’t care about my sweetheart enough, he might be forgotten by someone!”

Ronghua continued to say, “Yes, he is your sweetheart. So why don’t you care about him yourself?”

Xia Pumo then blushed!