It was still alright when Yin Ci hadn't held onto Shi Jingzhi. As soon as he did, the pale thorns on the ground immediately dispersed. Yin Ci instinctively let go, and the pile of thorns grew back vigorously.

Yin Ci: "..."

Shi Jingzhi's eyes were still red, and he tried to look calm. Unfortunately, the Buddha's Heart Formation was impartial and did not leave him any face. Shi Jingzhi's state of mind was like a swaying willow in the wind, with ups and downs. His Heart Demon also followed suit, changing quite plainly.

Yin Ci suddenly felt that the thorns on the ground were not the thorns of his Heart Demon, but Shi Jingzhi's fox tail.

Demon Lord Yin has always been carefree. When this thought flashed through his mind, he laughed out loud. Shi Jingzhi stood there like thunder, his fragility still not dissipated, turning into a shocked "how could you be like this." 

"Are you so concerned about me?" Yin Ci laughed.

Shi Jingzhi had prepared himself to express his sadness and heroism, but when he met Yin Ci, who remained unmoved, he instantly became weak. He angrily withdrew his hand into his sleeve, and his serious anger turned into frustration.

After struggling for a moment and forcing the blood back into his face, he finally managed to ask, "Ah Ci, what...What do you think about my Heart Demon?"

Shi Jingzhi tried to open up, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of panic inside.

Yin Ci still had the same careless expression as though he wouldn't care even if the skies crashed down, but this time he didn't joke around. He answered relatively seriously, "You're doing well, very spirited, and enviable."

Shi Jingzhi: "..." 

Is it really too late for him to find a new disciple now? 

Seeing his uncertain expression, Yin Ci couldn't help but suppress a laugh and said, "What else can I think? Love and hate are intense emotions, and it's better to let go than to hold on. It's a good thing if you can understand that." 

Shi Jingzhi and his Heart Demon breathed a sigh of relief together, and the thorns that were running rampant on the ground finally settled down. 

But Yin Ci wasn't finished yet, and he added, "But Shizun's true nature is even more lovely than I thought." 

Just as Shi Jingzhi had finally calmed down, his heart jumped back up to his throat. 

After a moment, he stuttered, "What nonsense are you talking about? We need to find the mountain demons first." 

However, he did reach out his hand from his sleeve again. 

Yin Ci laughed for a while before turning serious. "Just now, Su Si and Yan Qing lured them over, and I traced the demonic energy to the edge of the cliff. However, I couldn't locate the two demons' positions, so there must be something suspicious going on. Your Heart Demon is external to your body, and it's like a spider web that covers everything. It happens to be useful in this situation."

Shi Jingzhi immediately understood and said, "Let's go, bring me to the cliff."

Shi Jingzhi's Heart Demon was similar to Lord Bai's and was not connected to him personally, so it wouldn't affect his movements. However, the mountain was now covered in thorns and spikes, and occasionally there were surges of movement, making the path even more difficult to traverse. 

Shi Jingzhi had originally wanted to carry Lord Bai, but the goose demon was guarding Su Si, who was still unconscious, and refused to move no matter what.

So he had to give up and continue with Yin Ci towards the edge of the cliff.

The Heart Demon's illusion was broken, but the blue sky remained the same. The mist rolled over the edge of the cliff, and the immortal energy of the Huilian Mountain floated in the air, majestic and unchanged. 

Yin Ci stood at the edge of the cliff, furrowing his brows as he surveyed the area. After a moment, he pointed in a certain direction outside the cliff and said, "The most intense demonic energy is over there, but it's scattered and hard to pinpoint."

Shi Jingzhi understood his meaning. Even if it were him, he wouldn't dare to rashly probe the void. If he misjudged and was attacked by the demons in mid-air, it would be a disaster.

"I'll do it. I'll expand the thorns and cover the entire area nearby," Shi Jingzhi offered.

Yin Ci shook his head. "You just experienced the birth of your Heart Demon, and your emotions are unstable. It's best not to exhaust yourself. I have my own Heart Demon to assist me, so you just need to find their general location."

Yin Ci's tone was naturally accommodating, which was a stark contrast to how he used to be. Shi Jingzhi used to question and analyze everything he said, but now he stopped his deep thoughts and accepted his words wholeheartedly. He found it quite relieving. 

Taking a few deep breaths, Shi Jingzhi faced the empty cliff outside and summoned more than a dozen thorny vines of his Heart Demon, despite feeling exhausted and having a headache. As soon as the vines were shot out, he felt a demonic energy brushing against them.

"Ah Ci, thirty-five steps ahead of you and twelve steps to the left!"

Yin Ci stopped his human head lamp at the edge of the cliff and leaped off the cliff. His sword dance was like a storm, sweeping everything within a five-step radius. Soon, a scream was heard from within the sword wind, and two demons gradually appeared.

There was nothing but emptiness outside the cliff, not even a crooked tree to borrow strength from. Yin Ci couldn't stay in mid-air, so he used the shadow chain behind him to swing back. 

The black flame in his human head lamp didn't even flicker.

Only when the demons were injured and appeared did they see what they looked like. 

As expected of the mountain demon guardians of Huilian Mountain, not one of the three demons is a fierce beast, including the Greedy Butterflies. On the outer edge of the cliff, there is a hidden floating stone platform that moves, and a cow and a monkey are standing on it.

The cow demon seems both real and illusory, appearing at first glance like a faint shadow, somewhat similar to the shadow hands on Yin Ci's body. However, upon closer inspection, only a small part of its body, where its focus lies, can be seen, while the rest of its body outside of the line of sight dissipates like mist. If one were to forcefully try to see it, they would only end up with a headache and frustration.

In short, its form cannot be directly perceived. It is likely that the demon's aura is fragmented and unpredictable, and this is probably due to its unique nature.

Blinded by anger and unable to see the bigger picture, this is probably Anger. 

Ignorance was easy to spot - the monkey demon sat on the back of a cow, with two faces on either side and four eyes misplaced on its head, staring coldly. Its two mouths were full of bared teeth, making low chattering noises.

As soon as they were discovered, the two demons turned and fled, disappearing into thin air. This time they didn't use any power to hide - they didn't disappear entirely, but rather seemed to vanish from sight, as if running into an invisible doorway.

Yin Ci and Shi Jingzhi exchanged a glance.

Immediately, Yin Ci embraced Shi Jingzhi and leapt onto the invisible stone platform. The blood of the demons was still dripping on the platform, and upon closer inspection, it seemed as if the blood was moving on its own, a strange and eerie sight. 

The stone platform swayed randomly everywhere, but Yin Ci had already remembered the location of the invisible doorway. He tugged on his chain of shadow hands and looked at Shi Jingzhi: "Shizun, are you ready? If you need to rest, we can wait a moment."

Shi Jingzhi stared straight ahead at where the two demons had disappeared without hesitation and said, "Let's go."

Yin Ci leapt into the air. 

His qinggong was much more solid than Shi Jingzhi's, so even if the platform drifted far away, he could still jump into the invisible "doorway."

Shi Jingzhi instinctively tightened his grip as the two of them hugged each other and plunged into the void.

In just an instant, the sky and mountains were nowhere to be seen, and they fell into a cold shadow, then crashed onto a certain spot on the ground.

The darkness inside the doorway was incomparable, but it was a small world of its own. Yin Ci let go of Shi Jingzhi and felt around, but could only touch the cold and rough rocks. 

Beneath their feet was frozen soil, and all around them were towering black rocks. It felt as though they had not jumped into the void at the edge of the cliff, but instead had fallen into a narrow cave.

The cave was silent, with only a faint light shining through the distant entrance. Formations were different between those used by humans and demons, and the two Anger and Ignorance pair were nowhere to be seen. They were probably not trapped here and had long since fled.

Shi Jingzhi was the first to rush towards the entrance of the cave. Outside, the world was a vast expanse of white, with the wind and snow swirling together to create a blinding blizzard. He cautiously reached out a hand to touch the snow outside the cave, but his hand only met with emptiness.

It was the boundary of the formation.

Shi Jingzhi turned around and looked at Yin Ci behind him. The thorns that had been wrapped around his waist before had disappeared, and the shadow hands on Yin Ci's body were nowhere to be found. 

He took a deep breath and decisively shared his discovery: "The Heart Demons have disappeared, and we are no longer in the Buddha's Heart Formation. Judging from the situation, someone has solidified a small formation here, and the two formations are incompatible."

Yin Ci looked at Shi Jingzhi with some surprise and continued, "Indeed. This small formation of this scale should be the work of an individual... We only know of one person who would be crazy enough to tamper with the Buddha's Heart Formation."

Shi Jingzhi leaned against the cave wall with a worried expression and said, "He would have to steal some energy from the Buddha's Heart Formation to do this, why couldn't he have just left a message instead?"

"That means he has more clues to convey, which is a good thing," Yin Ci said as he sat down and stretched lazily in place.

The moment they stepped in, the small formation was activated. Although this formation was created by Yan Budu, it was rare that it did not contain any killing intent, so it was probably safe. 

Although it was an illusion, the cold within the formation did not diminish. It seemed that in order to protect the integrity of the formation, Shi Jingzhi's Heart Demon had been dispelled, but his internal energy was still suppressed by the small formation. He stood there, exhaling white mist, but eventually gave in and approached Yin Ci.

"May I lean on you for a while? I'm a little afraid of the cold," he politely asked.

Yin Ci looked like he was falling for it and promptly made some room for him. "No need to be so polite, come over here."

Shi Jingzhi was already exhausted from his Heart Demon and fatigue. He leaned on Yin Ci for a while, carefully adjusting his posture and half-hanging on him. He slowly grew weaker and weaker, until he was on the verge of falling asleep.

Yin Ci simply hugged the person next to him, guiding Shi Jingzhi to breathe softly while keeping a close eye on the entrance of the cave.

Yan Budu had played so many tricks, he wouldn't just leave them here to freeze to death. 

Sure enough, not long after, a figure stumbled into the cave. 

The person was dressed in dark red armor, and their white fox fur coat was stained with blood and snow. One of their arms hung limply, clearly indicating a serious injury. From afar, the red jade smoking pipe at their waist was familiar and infuriating.

Yin Ci quickly poked the half-asleep fox awake and whispered, "He's here."

In the short time it took for two incense sticks to burn, Shi Jingzhi's face was buried in Yin Ci's shoulder, dreaming scattered dreams. Now suddenly awakened, he was momentarily confused and almost jumped up, "What? What's here?"

His voice was loud, but Yan Budu seemed not to have heard him. 

Squinting his crimson eyes, he tore open his clothes and skillfully tended to his wounds. After setting the broken bones, he leaned against the rock wall and let out a long breath. 

He tied his hair up in a high ponytail, the messy ends sticking to his pale skin, giving off a hint of allure. But with Yan Budu, this allure also carried a dangerous and suspicious scent.

Yan Budu didn't have much peace for long. After just a cup of tea's worth of time, he suddenly furrowed his brows, covered his mouth, and without warning, vomited a mouthful of blood.

Shi Jingzhi and Yin Ci: "..." These scene was too familiar.

After spitting out the blood, Yan Budu still had no expression on his face. He didn't show any surprise, just habitually wiped the fresh blood off his palm with a handful of snow. Then he wrapped himself in the fox fur coat and tried to rest his eyes - but every time he rested for a while, he would tilt his head and spit out a few more mouthfuls of blood.

Yin Ci's expression was strange: "He has this condition? I've never heard of it before." 

Shi Jingzhi held his breath and focused his attention. "I haven't seen any records either. It's possible that Ling Sect values strength above all else and doesn't want to admit that their Holy Leader can also fall ill... Or maybe he just endured it in front of others. If it were me, I could also endure it when necessary."

Yan Budu slept and vomited, then woke up and vomited again. His face barely regained some color. It seemed that he was tired of sleeping, so he lazily turned his head and looked towards the snowstorm outside the cave.

Shi Jingzhi watched for a while, then went back to his own thoughts. Unexpectedly, it wasn't Yin Ci who woke him up again, but Yan Budu.

"Since you're here, why not come in and sit down." 

Yan Budu's voice was lazy and full of hostility, without any hint of weakness. He just turned his head and greeted the outside of the cave.

"...I say, Master Kongshi, with the outside in such a state, do you still want to catch me and bring me out of the mountain immediately?" 

The author has something to say:

Yan Budu pulled a wire from the monks' formation to steal electricity for his video recorder. (×)

Fox Shi: What should I do? Living in the world is so dangerous, and it's hard to open up.

Demon Lord Yin: So cute (?)