Chapter 234: Never Forget

Chapter 234: Never Forget

Su Mo really hadn’t used much force in his palm strike.

He could control his inner energy effortlessly, as if it were an extension of his body.

He knew exactly whether his palm strike could be lethal.

Therefore, he could assert that this person was definitely not killed by him.

By this time, Little Situ and the others had also arrived.

Seeing the body on the ground, they instinctively turned their gaze toward Su Mo.

Su Mo lightly raised his eyebrows:

"I think I get it."

"How so?"

Wan Zangxin asked.

"This bewitching sound..."

Su Mo’s expression was somewhat strange. "It might affect their own people too."

Little Situ and the others looked at each other.

"This demonic sound mainly stirs up human desires. The deeper the desire, the greater the harm.

"Once the demonic sound starts, as long as they remain part of it, they are spared from its harm.

"However, if they are pulled out of this demonic sound, they will be affected by it themselves.

"The members of the Extreme Joy Palace are already consumed by deep desires.

"Once affected, they’ll drop dead instantly!"

In just a few words, Su Mo had already provided an explanation for the situation.

"If that’s the case..."

Little Situ was taken aback. "So, does that mean we have the upper hand now?"

"Exactly."

Su Mo said, "But we need Little Situ’s help to find another one to confirm this."

"Alright."

Little Situ didn’t hesitate, as this was the purpose of her coming along.

She quickly gave instructions, and soon they found another person.

Like the first one, this person sat with closed eyes, chanting.

Though he sensed someone approaching, he didn’t dare open his eyes.

With a single strike, Wan Zangxin disrupted the person’s inner energy flow, and the sound abruptly stopped.

The cultist from the Blissful Heaven Palace suddenly opened his eyes wide and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, immediately dropping dead!

Witnessing this, everyone could finally confirm their suspicions.

This enchanting music truly was a double-edged sword.

It could harm others, but also harm oneself!

As for Su Mo and his group, Little Situ and the four girls were entirely free from such temptations.

Being chaste maidens who had not experienced such pleasures, how could they indulge in idle fantasies?

Su Mo, on the other hand, had profound inner strength and was disciplined in his conduct. Though the demonic music was potent, to him, it felt like a gentle breeze—hardly worth noting.

As for Wan Zangxin…

He was clearly a man of some experience.

However, the Heavenly Spring Mind-Cleansing Sword technique emphasized the state of one’s heart. He had purified his heart, becoming as pure as a newborn. Later, through introspection, he had undergone a complete transformation.

At this point, even if he lacked some inner strength, it wouldn’t be enough to make him vulnerable to the music.

This, in turn, made Su Mo and his group the most carefree and unaffected in the face of the demonic music.

However, as Su Mo looked up, he furrowed his brow and said:

“Master Red Cloud and his disciples are clearly immobilized by this demonic music.

“Although Master Red Cloud has deep Buddhist wisdom, most of his disciples were originally bandits from various mountains and strongholds.

“While they are not comparable to the disciples of the Blissful Heaven Palace in this regard,

“They are also not people of pure heart, so at this moment, they must be using their inner strength to suppress their minds.

“Even if we locate them, they likely won't be able to break through with us.

“Since that’s the case…”

He paused slightly and continued, “Little Situ, can you follow the clues and find as many of these Blissful Heaven Palace members as possible?

“We don’t know precisely how many of them are here.

“But if they keep dying, the power of the demonic music will gradually weaken.

“Once they detect an anomaly, they’ll cease the music.

“And that’s when we’ll seize the chance to charge into the heart and regroup with Master Red Cloud and his disciples.”

“Alright!”

Little Situ nodded without hesitation.

The four girls were taken aback by what they heard and wanted to speak up, but ultimately held their tongues.

Seeing this, Su Mo immediately asked:

“If the four girls have any concerns, feel free to speak up.”

“We don’t!”

Little Situ immediately shook her head. "The four senior sisters are just concerned about me. Disrupting the formation takes a great deal of mental effort, and they have some hesitations."

"That's good."

Su Mo nodded upon hearing that.

The group didn’t say anything more. Led by Little Situ, they navigated through the Fog Forget Forest.

The Fog Forget Forest was vast, with intertwined trees and complex terrain.

However, due to the formation, although Little Situ was unfamiliar with the terrain, she moved with unexpected agility.

For a time, the people from the Extreme Joy Heaven Palace were extremely unlucky.

One by one, they perished under the influence of their own demonic sound.

Thirty minutes flew by in the blink of an eye.

But as time went on, Su Mo's expression became strange.

Now, the demonic sound in the Fog Forget Forest had weakened significantly compared to its initial strength.

Clearly, as more disciples from the Extreme Joy Heaven Palace died, the demonic sound lost much of its power.

As a result, at this point, the Extreme Joy Heaven Palace disciples intercepted by Su Mo and Wan Zangxin no longer collapsed and died immediately.

Instead, they stood up, apparently seeking someone for pleasure.

Though they had lost their minds, they could still struggle briefly.

This, of course, didn’t pose much of a problem for Su Mo and Wan Zangxin.

However… now that things had developed to this point, why hadn’t the demonic sound stopped yet?

If he were in charge of the Extreme Joy Heaven Palace, he would have certainly ordered the sound to stop and focused on eliminating the external threat first!

That would be the proper course of action.

Yet, even now, the demonic sound persisted.

It showed no sign of stopping.

Though it was faltering, like a prolonged rain that had grown weak and powerless.

Although it was like a candle in the wind, it still persisted.

It seemed something was holding them back.

"Could it be that there is no one in charge within the Fog Forget Forest?"

This remark was not made by Su Mo, but by Wan Zangxin, who was standing next to him.

Clearly, the anomaly within the Fog Forget Forest had not only been noticed by Su Mo.

Su Mo immediately looked at Wan Zangxin. "That makes sense."

Without leadership, there would be no orders, and thus no enforcement of commands.

With the Extreme Joy Heaven Palace disciples spread out across the Fog Forget Forest, the distances between them were vast. Once the demonic sound began, they dared not stop it on their own.

After all, how this affects Su Mo and his group is already obvious to them.

Unless they can all stop at once, anyone who tries to quit first will die immediately.

Even if they don’t die, they’ll lose their sanity, which is extremely dangerous.

In this situation, even though they know something has gone wrong, they’re stuck continuing, with no way out.

"This Master Red Cloud has quite a reputation. If Blissful Heaven Palace intends to deal with him, why wouldn’t they send elite experts to handle it?"

Dongqing instinctively said, but her expression froze as she spoke.

Then she glared at Su Mo, "No... there is an expert here."

"Where?"

Wan Zangxin instinctively asked, thinking his reasoning might have been wrong.

"Didn’t Chief Escort Su already kill him?"

"..."

Su Mo was stunned, "The guy with the split face?"

"That’s right, his martial arts skills are incredibly high!"

Wan Zangxin immediately agreed, "The aftermath of Chief Escort Su’s fight with him was terrifying to watch."

"Absolutely."

Miss Dongqing also nodded vigorously:

"This person chased us relentlessly, always on our heels.

"We didn't actually fight since Young Master was poisoned by 'One Night's Breeze,'

"but we knew that if we had fought, we wouldn't stand a chance against them."

"……Hmm."

Su Mo thought for a moment and smiled, "For someone to survive my palm strike is truly remarkable."

His words left everyone momentarily stunned.

However, even though that was the case, they still needed to stay alert for any hidden dangers in Fog Forget Forest.

Therefore, they remained cautious and, using the ongoing demonic music to their advantage, killed as many disciples of the Extreme Joy Heaven Palace as they could.

After another stick of incense burned down, the demonic music began to falter.

It became intermittent, like a flickering candle in the wind.

At that very moment, the sounds of battle suddenly erupted.

Su Mo and the others perked up their ears and heard, among the battle cries, some Buddhist chants.

"It's Master Red Cloud!"

They immediately abandoned the task of dealing with the cultists from the Blissful Heaven Palace and rushed toward the location where Master Red Cloud was.

At this point, the formation was riddled with gaps.

The enemies had been scattered and slain by Su Mo and his group, and because of the demonic music, the power of their formation had not even been fully unleashed before it was on the verge of collapse.

As a result, Su Mo and the others didn’t have to expend any effort and quickly reached the location where Master Red Cloud and his group were.

From a distance, they could see that Master Red Cloud was leading the others in fighting several cultists from the Blissful Heaven Palace.

Master Red Cloud’s gaze was stern as he stood vigilant, looking around cautiously, seemingly on the defensive.

The monks engaged in battle were undeniably skilled, yet weakened by hunger and fatigue, their moves lacked strength.

Had they not outnumbered their foes, they would have likely lost their lives already.

At that moment, Su Mo and Wan Zangxin leapt into action. While still in mid-air, Su Mo unleashed the Purple Sun Divine Palm.

The cultists from the Blissful Heaven Palace tried to resist, but when they met his palm strike, it was as if they had been hit by a giant wave. They immediately spat blood and died on the spot.

Another cultist hadn’t even realized what had happened when a magnificent sword energy arrived before him.

The first two cultists were cut in half by the sword energy. The others, seeing this, dared not face it and rolled away, but still ended up being wounded by the residual energy of the sword.

The four girls positioned at the cardinal points were guarding Little Situ and did not join the fight. Instead, they surveyed the surroundings and monitored the enemies.

Master Red Cloud was momentarily stunned by this sudden reinforcement.

Upon seeing him, Master Red Cloud was instantly elated:

“Chief Escort Su!?”

“Master, it’s good to see you’re safe.”

Su Mo laughed heartily and landed in front of Master Red Cloud.

Before Master Red Cloud could reply, there was a sudden exclamation from the side of the Blissful Heaven Palace:

“He used the Purple Sun Divine Palm! The surname Su? Could it be Su Mo, the one who defeated three orders with a single sword in the southwest?”

“Those girls, didn’t they already flee in terror? Why are they still here?”

“Our leader went to pursue them but has not returned; could it be that they encountered this Su Mo?”

“The disruption in the Profound Yin Heavenly Melody must be his doing.”

“This person has extremely high martial arts skills; we are no match for him… Retreat immediately!”

Within moments, the surrounding Blissful Heaven Palace disciples, who had gathered from various parts of the Fog Forget Forest, turned around without a word and fled!

Su Mo raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected his reputation to be so effective in East City!

Just as he was about to give chase, Master Red Cloud quickly said:

“Chief Escort Su, be careful, within the Blissful Heaven Palace, there is still Lady Chà Yuán Jūn!

“This person is both yin and yang, and the martial arts they practice are extraordinarily powerful. Don’t let your guard down; they’re formidable.”

Hearing this, Su Mo’s forward momentum couldn’t help but pause.

For a moment, he was left speechless.

He leapt into the air and pursued the fleeing members of the Extreme Joy Heaven Palace through the Fog Forget Forest.

These people were now like cornered animals, with no desire to face Su Mo; all they wanted was to escape.

Su Mo employed the Purple Sun Divine Palm and the Flicking Finger technique, switching seamlessly between ranged and melee attacks. Wherever he passed, no enemy could stand against him.

Even if some disciples of the Extreme Joy Heaven Palace deployed poisonous mists, Little Situ’s medicinal pills and Su Mo’s Twelve Gates Golden Bell Shield made him impervious to toxins. There was no way to slow him down, not even for a second.

Master Red Cloud watched this but looked concerned, as if he feared Lady Chà Yuán Jūn might suddenly appear from the shadows and ambush Su Mo.

Miss Dongqing immediately spoke up:

"Master, don’t worry. Lady Chà Yuán Jūn has already been defeated by Su Mo and perished under his palm."

"Ah?"

Master Red Cloud was startled but relieved. "I see."

Miss Dongqing nodded and didn’t say anything more, just turning back to look at Little Situ.

She noticed that Little Situ’s face was pale, but she was watching Su Mo intently as he moved through the forest, taking down enemies.

Seeing this, Miss Dongqing couldn’t help exchanging glances with the other girls and sighing.

They had come all the way from Sunset City to the Cold Moon Palace.

Along the way, they had noticed Little Situ’s feelings for Su Mo slowly shifting. The change was so subtle that even Little Situ hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

It was only at the time of parting that she felt a lingering reluctance toward Su Mo.

Even afterward, Little Situ felt it strange, not understanding why she had felt that way.

But even so, if they were to be apart for a long time, and considering Little Situ’s secret of being a woman, this small change would not be a concern. There would be no chance for it to grow.

However, no one expected that Little Situ would insist on coming to rescue Master Red Cloud and the others.

She ended up being tricked by Lady Chà Yuán Jūn’s "A Night Wind in the Small Tower" technique.

This led to a fateful encounter with Su Mo in the cave.

What had once been just a seedling in her heart had now taken root, blossoming fully.

But... would her feelings ever be reciprocated?

Watching the dazed Little Situ, Miss Dongqing couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

At that moment, Su Mo and Wan Zangxin returned.

"Not every member of the Extreme Joy Heaven Palace has been defeated, but they’re no longer a threat."

Su Mo greeted Master Red Cloud with a fist salute. "Master, it’s been a while."

"Chief Escort Su... once again, thank you for coming to our rescue."

Master Red Cloud also felt a bit embarrassed at this moment.

He realized that ever since the Red Cloud Temple incident, he had survived two life-threatening crises, both times being saved by Su Mo.

At this point, he really didn’t know how to repay the favor.

"Master Red Cloud, there’s no need for such words," Su Mo replied, clasping his hands together. "You ventured deep into the heart of the demon's lair, risking your life. I can only express my admiration for your actions.

"As for this matter... I happened to be in the right place at the right time. If not for Master Huibian meeting Little Situ...

"I would have been completely unaware of this situation."

"Huibian?"

Master Red Cloud was taken aback and immediately asked for details.

Su Mo then explained the situation in detail, step by step.

Upon hearing this, Master Red Cloud pressed his palms together and sighed softly:

"Buddha have mercy!

"So Huibian has... already passed away.

"We were trapped by Lady Chà Yuán Jūn, and at that time, I had no confidence in breaking through her 'Heavenly Guidance and Earthly Union Scripture.'

"That’s why I took a gamble, hoping to save at least one person, it would be worth the risk.

"But who would have thought that we... had actually sent them down a path of no return."

Master Red Cloud lowered his head and sighed softly again, then quickly bowed to Little Situ and the others in gratitude for their rescue.

Little Situ struggled to support herself, wanting to say something, but as her red lips parted, she could only cough weakly.

"Young Master!"

The four girls—East, South, West, and North—immediately turned their attention to Little Situ.

Little Situ gently waved her hand. "I... I’m fine."

"How can you say you're fine?" East Qing couldn’t help but say.

"The damage to the six meridians is severe. With the suppression gone and your energy drained from breaking the formation... how can you claim to be fine?"

"What exactly is going on?" Su Mo asked immediately.

Little Situ instinctively shook her head, but Su Mo didn’t look at her; he only turned to East Qing.

East Qing had no choice but to explain: "After leaving the Suspension Pot Pavilion and entering the jianghu, Young Master sought opportunities to resolve the issue with his six meridians.

"The damage to Young Master’s six channels is a congenital defect."

"If you overexert yourself mentally, or become overly fatigued, it will cause the injury to worsen.

"Back at the Suspension Pot Pavilion, senior healers can use their advanced techniques to keep things under control.

"After leaving the Suspension Pot Pavilion, you'll need the Reverse Elemental Five Needle technique and some medicinal pills for support.

"This is not only to change the young master's appearance, but more importantly, this needling technique can alleviate the injury to the six meridians.

"Think of it as channeling a raging river into a calm stream.

"Only then can it be sustainable.

"But she was struck by the 'One Night Wind,' forcing her to expel the needles.

"Without the suppression, even Jingxu Dan can't fully compensate for the damage done.

"For now..."

She glanced at Little Situ and added, "Young master, let's return to the Suspension Pot Pavilion."

"……"

Little Situ stayed quiet for a moment, then looked up at Su Mo.

Suddenly, he said in a low voice, "Chief Escort Su... may I speak to you for a moment?"

"Of course."

Su Mo nodded immediately.

The four girls led Little Situ and Su Mo to a different spot.

"Chief Escort Su," Little Situ smiled gently, "I should head back to the Suspension Pot Pavilion.

"This trip was a long shot—I didn’t expect much.

"If anything, the greatest gain has been meeting Chief Escort Su!

"You taught me about life in the jianghu and showed me what’s right and wrong. Each word deeply resonated with me and is unforgettable.

"At this moment of parting... I have nothing to offer, but I hope these will be of some help to you."

She reached into her bosom and took out a pile of bottles and jars.

One by one, she explained to Su Mo how to use each one.

Su Mo tried to decline, but she wouldn't let him speak.

After explaining each one, she handed all the bottles to Su Mo.

Finally, she took out a token from her bosom.

"This token has the location of the Suspension Pot Pavilion on the back.

"If you have time in the future, will you... visit the Suspension Pot Pavilion and check on me?"

She finished speaking nervously, then shook her head. "Chief Escort Su, forget I said that..."

She thrust the token forcefully into Su Mo's hand and said:

"I only regret that our time together was so brief, and now I must leave without you.

"Chief Escort Su… I have to go!"

With that, she waved the four girls over, signaling them to lift the sedan chair, as if she couldn't bear to say more.

The four girls nodded at Su Mo and silently turned away.

Su Mo felt like he had a thousand things to say, but they were stuck in his throat, leaving him speechless.

Then, just as the sedan chair began to move, Little Situ Taoist suddenly turned back and looked at Su Mo.

Using all her strength, she shouted:

"Big Brother Su!

"Remember, my name is Situ Xiangxiang!

"You don’t need to come see me, but I just ask you—please don't forget me!"