Dan Ruyun had gotten separated from the cultivators of the Danhe sect.
In this ancient secret realm, danger lurked everywhere, but opportunities were equally abundant. Being able to venture forth together with trusted companions, relying on each other for support, would naturally bring much more peace of mind.
She wanted to follow Su Zhuyi. In her own team, she was considered a core member with high status, carrying many spirit medicines and magic treasures in her pouch, making her own value significant. If she encountered other people, they would eagerly wish to travel alongside her, however…
However, the strength that Su Zhuyi and her companions had just displayed left her utterly stunned, making her feel like she herself was nothing but a burden.
Yet, after wrestling with her thoughts several times, she still mustered the courage to step forward.
“Where are you going?” Dan Ruyun looked at Su Zhuyi with hopeful eyes. “I, I got separated from my master and the others. Can I travel together with you?” She had originally wanted to approach Su Zhuyi’s side, but the area around her felt chillingly cold. Previously in the desert, that coolness had made her feel comfortable, but now, that cold was like ice awls, making her yearn for it yet not dare to continue approaching.
Even the small white snake in front of her, holding its little head high and flicking its tongue, was very cold. Its pair of small eyes flashed with sharp light, making her tremble with fear, yet she still let out a couple of nervous laughs. “This, this little white snake is very beautiful. The top of its head looks like a blooming flower.”
“We’re still going to continue forward,” Su Zhuyi replied, then added, “You like it?”
“Then this snake is yours.” The little white snake hadn’t acknowledged a master, and she was too lazy to keep it. Originally, she had thought that if it insisted on following, she would bring it back to the Gujian sect to guard the gates. Now, Dan Ruyun’s strength was quite pitiful, and since she had given the phoenix feather flower to Dan Ruyun and hoped to obtain pills from her in the future, she naturally wanted Dan Ruyun to leave the ancient secret realm alive. Though this white snake looked small, it was quite formidable. With its protection, Dan Ruyun would be much safer.
The little white snake, which had just been excitedly swishing its tail and shaking its head, immediately became dejected and curled up into a ball, coiling itself round and round, piling up on the ground like a small flower roll.
Dan Ruyun was very afraid of snakes.
She had originally mustered the courage to compliment it, but now, hearing that Su Zhuyi wanted to give her the spirit snake, she felt both moved and panicked, tears nearly falling. She didn’t want the snake at all; she just wanted to be with Su Zhuyi.
Just then, Qin Jianglan suddenly said, “The cultivators of the Danhe sect are looking for you all.”
“You encountered mist when you came here, didn’t you?” He looked at Dan Ruyun, his gaze clear and cool, his voice gentle, like a soft breeze gently brushing past, making her panic and nervousness suddenly disappear. For a moment, she felt that the person before her was like a wise elder, easily inspiring trust.
“Yes, that’s right.” She nodded. Dan Ruyun was young after all; she was considered a little girl in the cultivation world, and was easily led astray by Qin Jianglan at this moment.
“This forest contains many spirit plants, but is also full of dangers. It’s indeed unsafe for you to walk alone. If you could reunite with the Danhe sect cultivators, that would be good. Then the spirit herbs here could further advance the Danhe sect’s strength.” Qin Jianglan said slowly.
“Yes, yes.” She knew there were many spirit herbs and medicines here, but the truly precious spirit herbs were all guarded by powerful spirit beasts, and many spirit herbs themselves could harm people. Even if they saw them, they didn’t dare act rashly. But if they had fellow sect members present, with those elders there, they would be able to obtain more medicinal herbs.
“You should find a way to reunite with them and lead them in here.” When Qin Jianglan said this, he then raised his hand and pointed, showing Dan Ruyun a path. “Going in this direction, you can return to that forest where the mist appeared before.”
Then he took out a mirror. The mirror seemed to have absorbed the essence of moonlight, its entire surface glowing with bright light. Qin Jianglan flipped the mirror over, and a beam of light illuminated the path ahead.
Dan Ruyun and her fellow sect members were completely bewildered.
“Follow this light and you can exit the forest. You have a soul lamp lit, and Sect Leader Dan and the others are looking for you based on the soul lamp’s signals. Right now they’re like headless flies wandering around outside the forest.” While speaking, Qin Jianglan put away the mirror, but though he had stored the mirror, that beam of light remained. Dan Ruyun’s heart was concerned about her sect, thinking about gathering medicinal herbs to elevate the sect’s strength to the next level. Though she felt somewhat reluctant at this moment, she still hurriedly followed the path to find her sect.
The Xundao sect members also didn’t want to separate from their team, and after brief consideration, they followed as well. When they had all left, only Qin Jianglan and Su Zhuyi remained.
“Let’s go.” Qin Jianglan said indifferently. He raised his hand, and the Songfeng sword that had transformed into a pine tree returned to normal. Then he brought Su Zhuyi onto the sword and continued flying forward.
In the past, this place had been full of dangers. When he came here in his previous life, he had also encountered many perils. But now flying in was smooth and unobstructed. It took less than an hour to reach the place where he had discovered the breath soil in his previous life.
The sky had already brightened.
Before them was a very narrow crevice, as if someone had struck the high mountain with a sword, the sword mark piercing through the mountain, and they had to pass through this gap.
The crevice was too narrow for two people to walk side by side.
Qin Jianglan led the way in front, but even as he walked ahead, he didn’t forget to hold Su Zhuyi’s hand. He was taller than Su Zhuyi and had broader shoulders. His shoulders scraped against the mountain rocks until the skin broke, and some loose stones rolled down. Only then did Su Zhuyi realize how terrifyingly hard these rocks were. She had originally planned to use her sword to widen the crevice a bit to make passage easier, but now it seemed uncertain whether she could even cut through them.
These mountain rocks are very hard. If we forcefully damage them, we might block the entire passage, and here, we cannot fly over.” There were too many strange and incomprehensible things in this world. Even though their strength was already quite good now, in this area where the breath of soil appeared, they still had to be careful and couldn’t act recklessly.
“Oh.” Because Qin Jianglan was walking ahead, Su Zhuyi didn’t feel squeezed when passing through. She saw that the clothes on Qin Jianglan’s shoulders had been worn through, and his shoulders had scraped raw. Raising her eyebrows slightly, she asked, “In your previous life, how did you get through?”
They had entered the Rebirth Pond and greatly increased their strength before coming in, yet it was still like this. How had the Qin Jianglan of his previous life managed to get through?
Qin Jianglan’s steps paused slightly.
Su Zhuyi hadn’t expected him to suddenly stop and directly bumped into his back.
“At that time, I was being chased by a vicious beast, and only here was there a path to survival.” He had been chased to a dead end, and seeing there was a crevice to squeeze through, naturally, he desperately wanted to squeeze in. At that time, his injuries had been much more severe. He had practically wanted to cut his bones shorter to squeeze into this narrow gap.
To survive, Qin Jianglan had had such desperate moments, too.
Everyone only saw their glory, but in reality, every opportunity, every improvement, was earned with life and blood. At that time, he had also felt he couldn’t hold on anymore, but he had never given up.
He had survived countless tribulations.
All the countless hardships on his cultivation path had been overcome by him.
His grip on Su Zhuyi’s hand tightened, yet he hadn’t overcome this tribulation.
The tribulation of emotions.
Buried too deeply, the debt owed at their first meeting had planted a small seed of guilt in his heart. Nourished by her every move, every smile, and frown, it had taken root and sprouted over time, growing into a flourishing tree with deep roots, becoming a towering tree that permeated his entire life.
It couldn’t be dug out.
It couldn’t be cut away.
Destroying that tree would also mean destroying himself.
He held her hand and continued forward. They walked for nearly half a day before finally emerging from the crevice.
Inside the crevice had been dark and lightless. The moment they emerged, brilliant light poured down from above, making the person before her appear even more like a deity.
Su Zhuyi looked at Qin Jianglan in the bright light. He stood there, gathering the heavenly light, making everything around him seem dim, or perhaps, at that moment, she could only see him in her eyes.
Walking out of the crevice in a daze, Su Zhuyi saw a waterfall.
They had emerged from behind a waterfall after crawling through the crevice.
She had just been dazzled by Qin Jianglan and hadn’t paid much attention to the outside world. Qin Jianglan hadn’t reminded her either, so when she rashly stepped out, she was immediately drenched like a drowned chicken.
Her clothes were soaked through, clinging tightly to her skin.
Su Zhuyi’s garments had always been light and thin.
This time when she came out, she hadn’t dressed as flamboyantly as before, not in dazzling red, but in slightly more subdued colors. She hadn’t expected that the plain-colored dress, when wet, would become so transparent.
Su Zhuyi had originally planned to use spiritual energy to dry her clothes.
Seeing that Qin Jianglan was looking at her very calmly, she went over to him, still dripping wet, and hugged his waist, asking, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“On purpose, not telling me there was water here.”
On purpose, standing there to dazzle her eyes.
“On purpose, making me get soaked.”
Releasing her arms, she pushed off with her toes and retreated under the waterfall, spinning around in the water and swaying her waist in dance. Her entire body was soaked through, her clothes clinging tightly to her body, making her figure’s curves even more alluring.
He leaned forward and pressed her against the mountain wall.
“Enchantress.” His nose touched her cheek, gently rubbing, sliding up and down. His heavy breathing also fell on her face, making Su Zhuyi, who had been thoroughly chilled by the cold water, suddenly feel a warmth in her heart.
His lips lightly touched hers, cold and soft and sweetly fragrant, as if honey could be drawn from them.
He gently bit her small earlobe and whispered low in her ear again, “Enchantress.”
The soul-stealing, heart-capturing enchantress—that was her.
The waterfall splashed, water droplets crystal clear like brilliant pearls. Occasionally birds flew past before their eyes. At first she could still look at the scenery outside the waterfall, but later, only low moans remained.
Her back pressed against the cold stone wall, while before her was a burning body. Under the assault of ice and fire, Su Zhuyi’s consciousness seemed to have separated from her body.
Her legs wrapped around his waist, threads of spiritual energy flowing into her body, causing Su Zhuyi’s cultivation realm, which had already reached a bottleneck, to loosen once again.
She thought of boiling water in the mortal world.
When the water boiled, it nearly lifted the kettle’s lid.
The lid was pushed up again and again. Now, her body was like this, and her cultivation realm was also like this.
The heavenly light seemed to be swallowed by dark clouds.
Su Zhuyi: “…”
Could it be that the thunder tribulation of the Nascent Soul stage was coming now?