A Family of Hopeless Romantics, Except for the Evil Little Junior Brother

"I need to find a spirit herb, so I'm heading deeper into the southern border," Murong Mo said.

This was routine—after completing a mission, most Mount Shushan disciples would choose to split up and search for what they needed.

But since the deeper regions of the southern border were perilous, only someone of Murong Mo’s cultivation level would dare venture that far.

Jiang Luoshui originally wanted to follow Senior Brother Murong closely, but when she heard that he was heading even deeper into the southern border, she abandoned the idea.

"Junior Brother Xuanxiao, what medicinal herbs are you looking for? How about we go together?"

Although Wuwang Mountains were on the border of the southern region, they were still dangerous.

If one was careless and had the misfortune of encountering a ferocious plant spirit, any mistake could spell trouble.

"Thank you, Senior Sister, but I’d prefer to train by myself."

Li Xuanxiao once again declined Su Wan’s offer.

No matter how shy he was, could he really be this shy?

So much time had passed—was he still holding a grudge over what happened before?

She had clearly already forgiven him.

"Junior Brother Xuanxiao, there’s no need to be so formal with me."

Li Xuanxiao smiled, but inside, he was losing his mind.

If possible, he truly wished he could stay far away from this Fourth Senior Sister.

Someone nearby advised, "Xuanxiao, you should go with Fourth Senior Sister. With her help, you’ll be able to gather the herbs you need."

"Finding herbs is secondary. The most important thing is training myself. Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, there's no need to worry. Please take care."

After saying that, Li Xuanxiao didn’t wait for them to respond.

He immediately soared eastward on his sword.

Since flying at high altitudes in the southern border was inconvenient, he skimmed just above the ground. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Leaving Su Wan standing there with a deep frown.

"What’s with this Li Xuanxiao?"

Fan Zhiyu was envious and a little resentful—traveling with Senior Sister Su Wan, and yet he wasn’t willing?

"Exactly."

"Fourth Senior Sister, don’t be angry. Maybe Senior Brother Li has his own difficulties~"

Jiang Luoshui deliberately added, making it sound as if Su Wan had eagerly approached only to be met with indifference, now left embarrassed and furious.

Su Wan shot a cold glance at Jiang Luoshui but ignored her.

Murong Mo said, "Junior Sister Su, why don’t you come with me to the deeper regions of the southern border?"

Su Wan pretended not to hear. Seeing that Li Xuanxiao truly had no intention of traveling with her, she gave up on chasing after him.

After hesitating for a moment, she set off in another direction alone.

Murong Mo gazed deeply in the direction Su Wan had gone and murmured, "That was the last chance I gave."

Then, he too departed.

Jiang Luoshui, on the other hand, formed a small team with the remaining two and continued forward.

"..........."

Li Xuanxiao moved swiftly, weaving through the forest.

Sigh~

After covering more than thirty miles in one breath, Li Xuanxiao let out a barely audible sigh.

Was this really necessary?

He really wished he was just overthinking things, but judging by how things were going…

After resting for a moment, Li Xuanxiao continued forward.

By nightfall, he had set up a simple formation on the ground.

He drew a circle in the dirt with his sword, then sat inside and closed his eyes to regulate his breath.

The bright moon hung high above, like a silver disk casting its cold glow, illuminating the quiet and shadowy forest.

In the midst of this darkness, Li Xuanxiao—who had been sitting motionless with his eyes tightly shut as if in deep sleep—suddenly opened his eyes without warning.

His gaze flashed with a sharp light, as if capable of piercing through all the secrets hidden within the night.

In that instant, a cold gleam shot toward him like lightning from behind.

It was so fast that it left almost no time to react.

The cold gleam was a razor-sharp flying sword, piercing straight through Li Xuanxiao’s body at an incredibly cunning angle.

Astonishingly, despite its deadly force, the sword aura it emitted was exceptionally precise and keen.

It neither disturbed the surrounding airflow nor caused any excessive destruction to the environment.

The flying sword effortlessly sliced through the fallen leaves on the ground as if passing through a thin sheet of paper.

Then, like a phantom, it silently embedded itself into the thick trunk of a tree not far ahead, leaving behind only a barely noticeable hole.

From start to finish, this heart-stopping attack had not revealed the slightest trace of its presence, nor had it made even the faintest sound.

It was as if the assailant was extraordinarily cautious, fearful that even the tiniest disturbance might alert someone to the anomaly occurring here.

The attacker slowly revealed himself.

Murong Mo looked at Li Xuanxiao’s corpse with an expression of cold indifference.

But in the next second, that corpse erupted in a cloud of poison mist.

Murong Mo raised an eyebrow slightly, placing his hands behind his back, showing no hint of concern.

"Not a bad illusion technique… but unfortunately, your cultivation is too weak…."

The poison mist failed to penetrate Murong Mo’s protective energy barrier, merely swirling around its outer edges.

Li Xuanxiao reappeared. "Senior Brother, did you really have to go for the kill?"

"You disgusting wretch. There are some things you shouldn't meddle in, yet you insisted on interfering. Stealing my woman—aren’t you just asking to die?

Besides, you have the Marrow Cleansing Pill left by the Sect Leader. Hand it over."

Murong Mo no longer had the slightest trace of the gentle demeanor he usually displayed on Mount Shushan.

To his fellow disciples, Senior Brother Murong was a refined gentleman—humble and courteous, polite and kind, even toward the disciples from the servant peaks.

But look at the Murong Mo before him now—completely different from his usual self.

"What’s mine, I can choose to abandon. But you—" Li Xuanxiao sneered. "You can’t just take it. You can’t steal it either."

What kind of overbearing CEO talk was that?

Li Xuanxiao silently mocked in his heart.

"I originally planned to give you a quick death, but you just don’t know what’s good for you."

Murong Mo knew exactly how strong Li Xuanxiao was.

He had even witnessed Li Xuanxiao in action recently—there was only one way to describe him: completely unremarkable.

Even if they were of the same cultivation level, Murong Mo was one hundred percent confident he could kill him.

Not to mention, he was an entire realm above him.

"Your fate is to die here. From the moment you accepted the mission from Sword Exchange Pavilion, you had already stepped into my trap. If I don’t explain it to you, you might die without ever realizing it."

Murong Mo spoke calmly.

"You’ve doomed yourself. If you had traveled with Junior Sister Su Wan, I might’ve had a harder time making a move. But I never expected you to choose to go alone.

I gave you more than one chance. But fate is not on your side."

Li Xuanxiao smiled faintly and didn’t bother explaining further.

He reached out and unfastened the sword case on his back.

"Spring!"

Clang! A sword hummed sharply.

A gleaming blade shot out from the sword case.

"Senior Brother, perhaps you’ve misunderstood something—I’m not weaker than you at all."

Li Xuanxiao no longer suppressed his cultivation.

Murong Mo’s expression changed slightly. "Foundation Establishment!"

Judging by his aura, he was already at the late stage of Foundation Establishment—how was that possible!?

Murong Mo raised his hand, attempting to summon his treasured sword back.

Too late!?

The opponent’s sword was too fast. Murong Mo immediately prepared to summon his magic weapon.

But Li Xuanxiao seemed to have anticipated this.

Within the thicket behind Murong Mo lay a carefully arranged trap by Li Xuanxiao.

Two scorpion puppets launched poison needles.