"Nangong Wan!" Han Li had finally found the source of that ripple.
Although this female cultivator named Zhuo Ruting had a face different from Nangong Wan's, she truly carried a bit of Nangong Wan's charm about her. That was what had given him such a strange feeling, stirring a small corner of his heart.
After figuring out the reason, Han Li cast a somewhat complicated glance at Zhuo Ruting, then withdrew his gaze, and his state of mind once more returned to unruffled calm.
However, even after Han Li and Qu Hun had arrived here, Madam Fan and Zhuo Ruting showed no intention of setting out right away. They kept looking up at the sky from time to time, as if they were still waiting for someone.
Seeing this, Han Li felt puzzled but didn't ask anything. He simply found an out-of-the-way corner and sat down cross-legged with Qu Hun, quietly awaiting the time of departure.
This wait lasted the better part of half a day.
If everyone present hadn't been cultivators, each brimming with patience, someone would likely have started complaining long ago.
Even so, someone eventually showed displeasure on their face.
Seeing this, Madam Fan and Zhuo Ruting also showed a bit of anxiety, and somewhat reluctantly drew together to whisper a few words to each other.
Han Li took all of this in. Just as he was speculating about whom they were waiting for, a faint sound of wind and thunder suddenly came from afar, and then a line of pitch black appeared at the far edge of the sky.
The black flew rapidly closer, drawing all the meditating cultivators to rise one after another and look over with startled, doubtful expressions. In the blink of an eye, the black was overhead, and only then did Han Li and the others see it clearly: it was a vast patch of dark clouds with a diameter of about fifty to sixty zhang. So great was its area that it nearly blanketed the entire mountaintop, and thunderous rumbling and lightning sparks occasionally burst forth from within it, making it all the more eerie!
Just as everyone was staring in a daze, a clear, cold woman's voice suddenly came from within the dark clouds.
"Senior Redfire, you may set me down now. I need to have a few words with my two senior sisters."
"Heh heh, of course, no problem!" an extremely unpleasant, grating voice replied.
At the sound of those two voices, Madam Fan and Zhuo Ruting's expressions changed slightly, and they glanced at each other.
Among the other cultivators, those who knew the origin of the dark clouds turned green in the face.
Han Li was inwardly startled as well. Just as he was puzzling over this, one of the cultivators muttered something.
"The Mysterious Sound Sect really does have impressive abilities. How did they manage to invite that Old Fiend Redfire of Primordial Turtle Island as well!"
The man's voice was very low, but Han Li, relying on his powerful spiritual sense, heard every word with perfect clarity, and his heart couldn't help but chill.
At the words "Primordial Turtle Island" and "Redfire Old Fiend," Han Li immediately recalled the origin of the dark clouds.
While chatting with the cultivators he had come to know, he had heard the great name of the "Redfire Old Fiend of Primordial Turtle Island" mentioned more than once.
This man had made his name extremely early and had already reached the level of late Core Formation. His Devilish Kui-Water Art was unfathomably versatile, and he was even more famous throughout the Scattered Star Seas for his ruthless cruelty and his habit of turning on people without warning.
Many people asserted that this Old Fiend Redfire was one of the cultivators most likely to reach the Nascent Soul stage, and that sooner or later he would become a monstrous tyrant like Ancestor Extreme Yin. Thus, as the undisputed master of Primordial Turtle Island, no one dared to provoke him lightly—he could truly be counted a man of great renown.
But how could a devilish cultivator of such reputation have come here? Could he truly have been invited by the Mysterious Sound Sect as reinforcement?
Han Li raised his vigilance without betraying a hint of it, and began staring intently at the dark clouds.
Just then, the dark clouds churned, and from within them flew out a woman in purple robes and palace dress.
This woman had a tall, slender figure, graceful and light, but a faint purple haze veiled her face, making her true features impossible to see.
Upon seeing this woman appear, Madam Fan and Zhuo Ruting immediately went forward to meet her.
"Junior Sister Wang, why would the Old Fiend Redfire come here? Did you invite him? But there was no need for that!" Zhuo Ruting asked in a low voice, her brows knitting.
"Indeed! That old fiend is not one to be trifled with. He may be easy to invite, but hard to send away! And with the manpower we have now, it is more than enough!" Madam Fan said gravely, a trace of displeasure showing through.
"Do my two senior sisters truly believe that the cultivators who raided our goods last time were the full extent of the enemy's strength?" the purple-robed woman said, paying no heed to the worry on the two women's faces.
"Junior Sister, what do you mean by that! Does the enemy have other troublesome figures?" Madam Fan was startled, immediately grasping the purple-robed woman's meaning, and asked in consternation.
Zhuo Ruting, too, revealed surprised eyes.
"I received word that a late Core Formation leader still sits guarding the enemy's lair. The helpers our two senior sisters gathered are still somewhat weak, so I made a trip to Primordial Turtle Island and persuaded the Redfire Old Fiend to act!" the purple-robed woman said offhandedly.
Hearing this, Madam Fan and Zhuo Ruting exchanged a half-doubtful glance and said nothing more.
Though they knew that persuading a devilish cultivator like the Redfire Old Fiend to act must have cost this junior sister dearly, now was not the time to discuss such matters. They could only wait until matters here were settled before considering anything else.
By then, the purple-robed woman's beautiful eyes had swept over the other cultivators on the mountaintop, and she nodded, seeming extremely satisfied.
"The Core Formation cultivators our two senior sisters invited are even more than I expected. With the help of the Redfire Old Fiend as well, on this trip we must wipe out these evil cultivators to the last man, to avenge my mother's murder!" The purple-robed woman's voice turned utterly frigid, brimming with boundless killing intent.
"Rest assured, we two will certainly avenge the Sect Leader for you!" Zhuo Ruting brushed back a lock of her jet-black hair and said slowly.
"Indeed, the Sect Leader showed us both great kindness. Even if it costs us our lives, we will destroy them," Madam Fan also said solemnly, echoing her for the first time.
Hearing this, the purple-robed woman, somewhat moved, bowed deeply to the two women.
"I must thank my two senior sisters for their great efforts this time! Just as we agreed beforehand, if my mother's great vengeance can be fulfilled, then the position of Master of the Mysterious Sound Sect shall be taken up by one of you two. I, Wang Ning, will never covet that seat!" the purple-robed woman said with a resolute expression.
After these words from the palace-dressed woman, a trace of complicated feeling appeared on Zhuo Ruting's lovely face. She parted her cherry lips as if to say something, but in the end did not.
As for Madam Fan, though she kept her composure, her eyes revealed a flicker of excitement that could not quite be hidden.
"Tsk tsk! I presume this is the Mysterious Sound Sect's Fairy Violet Spirit? A pity her face is veiled by a spell—truly regrettable!" the cultivator surnamed Meng, standing not far from Han Li, suddenly murmured to himself.
Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this.
The name Fairy Violet Spirit sounded familiar—he seemed to have heard it mentioned before. Rumor had it that her beauty was celestial, one of the most famous beauties of the Scattered Star Seas. Could this be her?
Han Li looked over at the purple-robed woman from a distance with some surprise.
By then, the purple-robed woman and Madam Fan had finished their conversation, and the former, robes fluttering like a celestial maiden, flew back into the dark clouds.
Then, under the solemn gaze of the two beautiful sect envoys, the group finally set out.
More than a dozen streams of colored light shot skyward from the peak, formed into a loose formation, and flew off toward the north.
Han Li and Qu Hun, positioned in the middle-rear of the formation, hurried along in silence, heads down.
But the cultivator surnamed Meng, for some reason, flew over to Han Li's side and chattered away at him with a grin.
"Fellow Daoist Han, how did you come to agree to help Left Envoy Fan? As for me, one of my concubines happens to be a personal disciple of Left Envoy Fan, so I had no choice but to repay this favor. Could it be that Fellow Daoist Han also—"
"I hardly have such romantic fortune as you, Fellow Daoist. Madam Fan merely promised to give me an item in return," Han Li said coolly.
"What a shame! Little brother, the finest things the Mysterious Sound Sect has to offer are, of course, those flower-like female disciples. Especially the ones personally trained by the two envoys themselves—truly—"
Listening to this ceaseless chatter, Han Li, though betraying nothing on the surface, inwardly felt something between laughter and tears.
Still, this instantly familiar manner reminded him of the rambling ways of Senior Brother Yu of Yellow Maple Valley, and he really couldn't bring himself to feel any ill will toward this man.
And so, with Han Li responding only in fits and starts, the whole group flew on under the guidance of the Mysterious Sound Sect members, toward an unknown destination.
On a desolate island.
On this island, several low-level disciples of the Mysterious Sound Sect had already been waiting a long while. The bandits' lair lay on another nameless island not far away, where other disciples were keeping watch over them.
Upon learning that all the evil cultivators were inside their lair and had not gone out, Fairy Violet Spirit, who had flown out of the dark clouds once more, promptly had Han Li and the other cultivators rest a while. Early the next morning, they would launch their surprise attack while the enemy was caught off guard.