That hand suddenly burst out from beneath the thick sand, gripping tightly around Jun Beiyue’s calf. A moment later, another hand shot out and seized him just as tightly.

Jun Beiyue wasn’t startled in the slightest — but Ziqing and Situ Haonan were both badly shaken!

“Careful, that old witch is after Ziqing — she knows the secret of Ziqing’s origins!” Situ Haonan cried out in alarm.

The wind grew fiercer by the moment. Jun Beiyue held Ziqing with one arm and gripped Situ Haonan with the other, leaving him no spare strength to pry loose whoever had hold of his leg.

Now that he’d found Ziqing, he’d grown far calmer. Whoever this person beneath his feet was, whatever they wanted, the most urgent thing was to steady themselves and keep from being blown away!

Getting down flat against the ground — that was what mattered most!

“Beiyue, be careful, that old witch is dangerous!”

Ziqing shouted at the top of her voice. The gale was so violent it felt as though their bodies were being torn apart, warped out of shape — even standing this close together, they had to shout just to be heard!

“Never mind that, get down first!” Jun Beiyue bellowed, gesturing to Situ Haonan while pulling Ziqing down with him.

But just then, the person buried in the sand suddenly tightened her grip with both hands — where she found such tremendous strength, no one could say — and the instant Jun Beiyue and Ziqing began to drop down, she yanked hard on his leg!

In that ferocious wind, even someone as formidable as Jun Beiyue couldn’t withstand it. Pulled off balance by the person beneath the sand, his entire body was instantly swept sideways by the wind!

He let go instinctively — because if he hadn’t, Ziqing and Situ Haonan would have been dragged along with him, swept away together, lifted into the sky!

But in that chaotic, urgent moment, the person buried in the sand, at the last possible instant, used her other hand to seize Jun Beiyue once again!

That person, it seemed, hadn’t come for Ziqing at all — she seemed fully prepared, entirely set on targeting Jun Beiyue specifically!

But by the time this became clear, it was already too late!

Ziqing and Situ Haonan, having relied on Jun Beiyue’s grip, had relaxed considerably — but the instant he let go, the two of them were sent tumbling across the sand by the wind, over and over, nearly simultaneously. In the end, it was Situ Haonan who managed to jam one foot deep into the sand and grab hold of Ziqing with one hand, barely steadying them both, keeping them from being swept up into the air!

At that moment, with Situ Haonan holding onto Ziqing, and Jun Beiyue held by the hand reaching out from the sand, in just that brief span of time the two groups had already been pulled five or six paces apart!

Five or six paces wasn’t really that far — except that, in the midst of this raging gale, even reaching out a hand to close that gap was nearly impossible. If there had still been time before, then now they were truly, genuinely caught in the heart of a tornado, truly having to fight the tornado head-on!

“Haonan, hang on, I’ll come right over!”

“Hang on!”

Jun Beiyue roared furiously, straining with all his might to kick free the hand clamped tight around his leg — but the wind was so violent that, far from struggling free, he could barely even move at all.

But he could see it — he could see Situ Haonan’s body slowly being lifted from the sand, could see the hand gripping Ziqing slowly slipping, unable to withstand the force of the wind!

“Situ Haonan, I’m warning you — if you dare let go, I will never, ever forgive you!”

At this moment, Jun Beiyue was like a man possessed. He threw everything he had into it, holding nothing back, converting his life-force into internal energy in a single, desperate burst, risking everything to transform all of his vital energy into martial power.

He clenched his teeth, staring fixedly at Ziqing — staring at his wife, so close before his eyes, and yet who might be torn away from him forever at any moment.

Converting vital energy into internal power took time — he’d only just achieved this technique, and was far from a master of it!

But now, he couldn’t afford to waste even a single moment!

Faster!

Feeling the vital energy gathering in his dantian, on the verge of converting into internal power, his heart burned with anxiety, and he could have killed himself for being so useless.

Seeing the anguish and self-hatred in his eyes, Ziqing’s heart ached, ached terribly. Watching him strain with everything he had, his handsome face flushed, veins bulging — Ziqing’s heart broke for him, and she hated herself, hated that she was covered in wounds, hated that there was nothing at all she could do to help him!

In that brief span of moments, Situ Haonan hadn’t let go — but then…

Ziqing’s face suddenly drained of color. She felt it — beneath her feet, deep within the sand, some invisible force seemed to be gripping her, pulling her downward.

What was happening?

Situ Haonan noticed it too, almost immediately, and shouted, “Han Ziqing, what’s going on!”

“I don’t know, I don’t know!”

Ziqing panicked. It was that feeling again — the sensation of her body being her own, and yet not under her control. There was no one in the sand, and yet why did she feel as though someone were dragging her downward?

That same terrifying sensation again, one she couldn’t help but fear!

That unfamiliar force seemed powerful enough to rival the tornado itself, pulling her down inch by inch — before long, more than half her body had already sunk beneath the sand.

Situ Haonan had no idea what was happening either. He shouted to Jun Beiyue, “There’s something down there! Something’s pulling Ziqing down!”

But the wind roared so loudly, howling in his ears, that Jun Beiyue couldn’t hear a word — he only knew that Situ Haonan was desperately trying to tell him something.

Seeing that Jun Beiyue didn’t understand, Situ Haonan had no time to spare on anything else. He unleashed the very last of his strength, forcing his own body down into the sand, gripping Ziqing tightly, fighting against whatever force was pulling from below!

But neither he nor Ziqing had any idea — from where Jun Beiyue stood, it looked as though they were now safe!

Jun Beiyue had no way of imagining there could be some unknown force beneath the sand capable of rivaling the wind itself — he simply thought Situ Haonan was remarkably clever.

Knowing to channel his energy and sink himself into the sand, at least blocking some of the wind’s force — the sand beneath their feet had already been swept away in many layers, and the fact that this layer remained meant it was unlikely to be swept away entirely!

Only by burying oneself in this layer of sand could one be safe!

Just like the person gripping his leg right now — she too must be hiding within the sand, otherwise she could never have summoned such tremendous strength!

Seeing that Ziqing and Situ Haonan were both buried safely in the sand, Jun Beiyue felt considerably more at ease. And by then, his vital energy had fully converted into internal power — now he needed to deal with this troublesome old witch clinging to his leg first.

He finally tore his gaze from Ziqing, turned his head, and looked at the hand gripping his leg so tightly, then abruptly seized that wrist with one hand.

He had no idea that, five or six paces away amid the howling wind, Ziqing and Situ Haonan were watching his actions, on the verge of tears with panic!

“Jun Beiyue! What are you doing! Get over here now!”

“Jun Beiyue, just kick that old witch to death and get over here, I can’t hold on much longer!”

Situ Haonan roared furiously. Both of them were martial artists — seeing Jun Beiyue’s movements, they knew he still had some strength left, that he could still hold on a bit longer!

Just let the old witch cling to him a while longer, why did it matter — what was he dawdling for, going after her hand like that?

“Beiyue! Jun Beiyue, I can’t hold on!”

“Jun Beiyue, help! Help!”

“Jun Beiyue…”

Ziqing’s voice had already broken into sobs — not from fear of death, but because the force beneath her feet was so terrifying. She was afraid, gripped by the illusion that she was being dragged into another world entirely, her heart hollow with panic. In that moment, all she wanted was to hold Jun Beiyue tightly in her arms.