At this moment, dawn was breaking outside, but the corner where they were hiding remained dim and shadowy.

Mi Lu’s entire body was tense, and his heart felt as heavy as if it were filled with cold lead.

He glanced at Hulü Yan, but could only make out a vague silhouette.

In other words, after regressing to the early stage of Qi Refining, his senses had dulled.

Not only had his spiritual power been drained, but his cultivation had also regressed. Why did even his cultivation level drop?

He had just reached the Foundation Establishment stage!

He hadn’t even faced the tribulation lightning for the Foundation Establishment yet!

Well, great.

No need to face the tribulation lightning anymore—what a wonderful outcome… NOT!

Ahhhhh!!!

Mi Lu roared internally, almost feeling like crying.

He slumped to the ground, dejected, until Hulü Yan grabbed his wrist again, snapping him back to reality. Slowly, he straightened his back.

Finally, he let out a long sigh.

Forget it.

He couldn’t fight, and he couldn’t run either.

Besides, he had advanced so quickly in cultivation, largely thanks to that half a heart from Hulü Yan.

Mi Lu adjusted his emotions and started thinking about the current situation.

He and Hulü Yan obviously couldn’t stay here forever. Apart from the terrible environment, the spiritual energy here was thin—not suitable for cultivation.

Previously, Mi Lu had planned to help Hulü Yan recover his organs, and he hadn’t abandoned that idea. However, the people who had taken Hulü Yan’s organs were not easy to deal with. With their current strength, they couldn’t possibly confront those people. If they rushed in recklessly, they’d only be delivering their heads on a platter.

After much thought, Mi Lu decided it was best to focus on cultivation for now.

He had wanted to move to a different location, but since Hulü Yan had drained his spiritual energy again, he had to postpone that plan.

Unfortunately, the spiritual energy here had already been depleted once.

When Mi Lu meditated again, the amount of spiritual energy he could absorb was significantly reduced, and his cultivation speed slowed dramatically.

Perhaps due to previous experiences, he was constantly uneasy, so his meditations didn’t last long.

Every few hours, he would wake up.

Each time he woke, he would immediately glance in Hulü Yan’s direction.

At first, Hulü Yan always sat quietly against the wall.

But then, one time when Mi Lu woke, he found Hulü Yan had silently leaned against him.

Hulü Yan was thin and frail. Although draining Mi Lu’s spiritual energy had made him look less sickly than before, his body was still light, like a piece of paper pressed against Mi Lu.

However, the grip Hulü Yan had on Mi Lu’s wrist was anything but delicate.

For a moment, Mi Lu even suspected that Hulü Yan hadn’t leaned over because the wall was uncomfortable or because he was cold, but because it made controlling him easier.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

Mi Lu woke again at dawn.

As the sun rose outside, beams of golden light streamed through the many holes in the roof of the abandoned house, illuminating the corner where they sat.

Mi Lu opened his eyes and found himself face-to-face with Hulü Yan’s pale face and hollow eye sockets, startling him.

He instinctively leaned back.

But Hulü Yan sensed his movement and immediately pulled him back.

Hulü Yan’s grip was so strong that it felt like he was going to crush Mi Lu’s wrist.

Mi Lu cried out in pain and was abruptly yanked back, crashing into Hulü Yan’s body.

Hulü Yan didn’t budge an inch.

On the contrary, Mi Lu was left dizzy, his forehead painfully colliding with Hulü Yan’s hard shoulder bone.

It took Mi Lu a long time to recover, but even then, his breath trembled from the lingering discomfort.

This time, he dared not make any more sudden moves.

However, after this incident, he was certain—

Hulü Yan had successfully absorbed the spiritual energy he had drained from Mi Lu’s body.

Otherwise, with Hulü Yan’s frail frame, how could he withstand Mi Lu’s impact?

Mi Lu felt a twinge of worry.

Hulü Yan, as the tragic and powerful protagonist of this story, would naturally grow stronger as he sought to recover his organs.

But as Mi Lu lowered his gaze to the long fingers tightly gripping his wrist, a sense of unease crept into his heart.

Without a doubt, the stronger Hulü Yan became, the harder he would be to control.

Mi Lu sighed, trying to push aside these chaotic thoughts for now.

There was something else that needed to be done—

The spiritual energy here was all used up. If they wanted to continue cultivating, they would have to find another place.

After half a month of cultivation, Mi Lu had returned to the peak of Qi Refining. After tidying himself up, he easily picked up Hulü Yan and stepped out of the house.

Summer had passed, and autumn’s crisp air filled the surroundings.

The sudden drop in temperature brought a refreshing chill to the wind.

Luckily, both Mi Lu and Hulü Yan were dressed warmly enough to survive the autumn, so winter shouldn’t be a problem either.

But where there’s autumn, winter isn’t far behind, right?

Although the winter in the Capital City wasn’t as harsh as the snowstorms in Immortal Valley where the Hulü Family resided, it wasn’t as warm as the spring-like atmosphere at the Guiyun Manor of the Wenren Family. To survive the winter, they would need to stock up on supplies at the market.

Moreover, Mi Lu and Hulü Yan were only in a half-fasting state; they hadn’t fully stopped eating. They’d still need to prepare some dry food to avoid going hungry during the winter.

Mi Lu mentally made a list and hesitated between returning to the Capital City or heading to another small town to gather supplies.

Just then, he faintly heard voices.

Among them, he even heard his own name!

He froze in his tracks. His brain hadn’t reacted yet, but his body instinctively darted behind a large tree.

Soon, he realized his reaction was unnecessary.

At the peak of Qi Refining, his hearing was naturally sharper than before. Since the voices were so faint, the people speaking were still some distance away.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Mi Lu lightly pushed off with his toes and leaped onto a tree branch, as agile as a bird.

He carried Hulü Yan, leaping from tree to tree, and soon found a dense area to hide.

Squinting, he peered into the distance.

It didn’t take long to locate the source of the voices.

It was a farmhouse about a mile to the southeast.

The farmhouse’s gate was half-open, and a woman holding a child stood in the doorway, examining a painting.

The man holding the painting wore a dark red robe, with a pure white jade pendant hanging from his waist—jade that only members of the Mi Family possessed.

That outfit was also unique to the Mi Family.

Clearly, the Mi Family had come looking for him.

The woman studied the painting carefully for a while, then shook her head.

The two men who were looking for someone didn’t give up and asked the woman a few more questions.

The woman pointed toward where Mi Lu and Hulü Yan were hiding and said, “There are a few more houses over there… you can check them…”

Although the voices were faint, Mi Lu could roughly guess what they were saying.

He stared blankly as the two men thanked the woman and started walking in his direction.

He could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his chest.

Was it nerves? Or excitement?

His family had come looking for him!

That thought sent waves of excitement through Mi Lu’s mind.

The escape plan he had given up on half a month ago now resurfaced in full force.

The idea swelled rapidly, filling his head in an instant.

He jumped down from the tree, carrying Hulü Yan, and rushed back to the abandoned house where they had spent the last half month.

He gently placed Hulü Yan back in the familiar corner, squatted down, and tried to suppress the excitement in his voice as he explained, “Someone’s outside! Stay here, don’t move. I’ll go check it out.”

When people are nervous, they tend to overlook certain details.

Mi Lu was no exception.

When he spoke, he completely forgot that Hulü Yan couldn’t hear a thing.

It wasn’t until after he had finished speaking that he remembered.

Mi Lu smacked his forehead in frustration, wondering how to explain it to Hulü Yan.

But in the next moment, to his surprise, he saw Hulü Yan release the grip he had on Mi Lu’s clothes.

Mi Lu opened his mouth, but it felt like all his words were stuck in his throat.

Hulü Yan… Could he hear?

But hadn’t Hulü Yan sacrificed his ears?

Mi Lu stood there quietly for a moment, and only one possibility came to mind—

Hulü Yan’s ears hadn’t been successfully sacrificed?

Which meant…

Hulü Yan could hear him the whole time?

But now wasn’t the time to confirm this suspicion. Mi Lu could hear the footsteps of the two men drawing closer—they were about to arrive.

“You wait here, I’ll be back soon,” Mi Lu whispered.

Hulü Yan didn’t respond. He simply sat quietly against the wall, his hands resting on his deformed legs.

With his hollow eye sockets, Hulü Yan’s expressionless face seemed to silently accept Mi Lu’s words, or perhaps he was waiting for Mi Lu to make his own decision—either way, he didn’t stop him.

Seeing this, Mi Lu suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

But that guilt didn’t last long before he pushed it down.

Gritting his teeth, he stood up and quickly left the dilapidated house.