Unexpectedly, at this moment, from the completely opposite direction came a burst of exaggerated shouting: “Oh no, I’m going to die, I’m so full of water I could burst! I thought after the small gathering I’d join a famous sect and reach the peak of life, but it turns out to be pure torture. I’m exhausted to death…”

“Huff, huff, huff…”

Panting sounds.

“Rustle, rustle.”

The sound of people passing through the grass.

Then came a dying wail: “Me, me too, so nauseating, want to vomit… can’t even eat watermelon…”

“Thump.”

“Thump.”

Two consecutive sounds. Jian Chou turned to look and saw two figures emerge from the grass one after another, soaked to the bone, directly collapsing onto the cloud platform like two corpses.

“Zuoliu, Xiao Jin?”

Jian Chou was greatly surprised, and Xia Houshe also turned to look in that direction.

She saw Zuoliu and Xiao Jin each lying prostrate at the edge of the cloud platform.

After hearing Jian Chou’s surprised voice, both pitiful souls also looked up in surprise, then their expressions turned to pure joy, as if they had seen family members, their saviors!

“Senior Sister Jian Chou!”

Zuoliu jumped up and shouted.

Xiao Jin was soaked all over. Hearing Jian Chou’s voice, his face was also full of joy, his eyes lighting up as he was about to roll over and get up: “Senior Sister Jian Chou—bleh!”

But just as he was about to roll over, perhaps because the movement was too vigorous, Xiao Jin’s bulging stomach swayed.

So he immediately couldn’t hold it in, feeling nauseous and directly collapsing toward the grass, vomiting his heart out.

“…Bleh! Bleh! Bleh…”

Jian Chou: “…”

Xia Houshe: “…”

Zuoliu: “…”

How did they end up like this?

Jian Chou frowned, walked toward them, and asked: “After we were separated at the entrance, I ended up with Junior Brother Xia Houshe. It seems you ended up with Xiao Jin and also came by crossing the river?”

“Yes.”

Zuoliu nodded hurriedly, glancing at Xiao Jin beside him with lingering fear.

He roughly knew what Jian Chou was wondering about, and somewhat embarrassedly touched his nose, laughing dryly: “Such a long river, a big lobster in the water told us we had to cross the river, and said something about ‘humans and turtles unite’—we couldn’t understand…”

Jian Chou knew these two were unreliable fellows, so not understanding the guide’s words was normal, but…

“Turtles? What happened?”

“Xiao Jin and I lay on the backs of two extremely, extremely, extremely large old turtles and barely made it across.” Zuoliu spread his hands wide to show an enormous range, still showing lingering fear on his face. “But those two old turtles’ water-crossing technique was really terrible, wasn’t it? They kept sinking into the water, so Xiao Jin and I… ended up like this…”

“Drip, drip, drip…”

Water was still dripping from their wet clothes.

“Bleh…”

The nearly exhausted young man was still vomiting.

Jian Chou and Xia Houshe stood one in front of the other, but almost simultaneously frowned.

The information Zuoliu provided was minimal, but it basically explained that although their river-crossing method was different from Jian Chou’s group, the principle was the same—”humans and turtles unite” had no essential difference from their “humans and bridges unite.”

Two old turtles carried them across the river, which must have been one of two choices.

“What choices did those two old turtles represent? You just came across like this?” Jian Chou curiously asked a couple more questions, then added, “Were there any characters on the old turtles?”

“Choices? Characters?”

Zuoliu was completely puzzled, scratching his head: “I don’t know about that. The big lobster told us to get on the big turtles, so we got on and crossed the river like that. As for characters, I didn’t pay attention. Xiao Jin, did you see any?”

Facing Jian Chou’s questions, Zuoliu really knew nothing and hurriedly asked Xiao Jin with some guilt.

“Ah…”

Having finally vomited up most of the river water in his stomach, Xiao Jin rolled over and lay weakly on the ground.

Hearing Zuoliu’s question, he instinctively shook his head with a “better off dead” expression, saying weakly: “Didn’t… didn’t see any characters…”

Didn’t see any…

Jian Chou looked back at Xia Houshe.

Xia Houshe also glanced at her.

At this moment, Jian Chou believed their thoughts were the same: Zuoliu and Xiao Jin should have faced the same choice, but these two made their choices without realizing it. The only questionable point was whether their choices were really between “having feelings and being without feelings.”

Zuoliu looked at Jian Chou with some confusion: “Senior Sister Jian Chou, is there something important about this?”

“Not particularly urgent.”

Jian Chou shook her head, her gaze sweeping over Zuoliu and Xiao Jin again.

“That mysterious Lijun who appeared outside the Hidden Realm gate, having thrown us here and called us uninvited guests, probably isn’t that simple. Currently, we only have four people here. Fellow Daoist Xiangleng and Fellow Daoist Ruhua, along with one other person, are still nowhere to be seen. If Fellow Daoist Xiangleng and Fellow Daoist Ruhua had passed through here, they should have left information or waited for us here. I’ll scout around first while you rest here for a bit.”

Both were fine, so Jian Chou felt relieved.

After saying this, she nodded to Xia Houshe and headed directly toward the fighting traces and remaining bloodstains on the ground.

At least four people had fought here, and Jian Chou couldn’t make out the cultivation techniques of three of them.

However, Lu Xiangleng and Young Master Ruhua, who hadn’t appeared yet, were both familiar to her. Jian Chou understood them, so she could be certain that neither Lu Xiangleng nor Young Master Ruhua were among the fighters.

As for the other person…

Jian Chou walked to a terrifying sword mark, her eyes gleaming with slight brilliance.

She stopped, crouched down, extended her hand, and her slender fingers slowly traced through the deep crevice, then gently pressed her fingertip.

“Pop.”

The residual obscure sword qi exploded softly on her fingertip.

Thus, a smile immediately bloomed on Jian Chou’s lips.

Ha.

It seemed that even encountering an accident, he still had the strength to unleash “Hermit Sword Intent” in battle.

Although this residual sword intent was no longer as powerful as when he fought her before, it far exceeded the level of ordinary Golden Core cultivators.

When Jian Chou had seen the bloodstains earlier, she had suspected it was Xie Buchen.

Unexpectedly, now that she had verified it with all the traces on the ground, it really was him.

Outside the first gate of Qingfeng Nunnery’s Hidden Realm, they had discovered that someone had gotten there first this time and had set up arrays to trap them at the gate. When they reached the second gate, the gatekeeper pig’s words revealed that they weren’t the first group to come to the Hidden Realm today, further confirming their judgment from outside.

Now, in this Hidden Realm where no other people should appear, there were traces of several people fighting, and it wasn’t internal strife among their group, so it seemed there really were other people inside.

Xie Buchen had crossed the river faster than any of them, but she didn’t know if there were others with him, what the result of this battle was, and where he was now…

These thoughts flashed through her mind as Jian Chou followed the faint bloodstains to the edge.

At the edge of the cloud platform was a slope of wild grass. In the originally lush grass, there was a sparse trail as if someone had passed through.

Jian Chou raised an eyebrow, carefully examining it. She lifted up the grass that had fallen to the ground, and when the slender blades turned over, they still had spots of fresh blood on the back.

Releasing her hand, she let go of the grass blades.

Jian Chou looked into the distance and saw the trail through the grass extended all the way to the dark river.

On the misty river surface, she could vaguely see an overturned small boat floating.

In the extreme blur, Jian Chou finally saw the characters “Without Feelings” carved on the boat’s side.

The boat was in the river but hadn’t reached the shore.

The boat without feelings?

Jian Chou snorted inwardly, feeling that something was wrong.

If judging by appearances, the boat without feelings was overturned in the river, meaning the boat with feelings had brought Xie Buchen to shore.

But…

Xie Buchen having feelings?

That would really be the joke of the century.

Jian Chou looked back at Xiao Jin and Zuoliu still lying on the ground.

If Xie Buchen had also chosen between having and not having feelings to reach shore, then Xiao Jin and Zuoliu probably did too. These two were each carried by a turtle, so necessarily one had feelings and one was without feelings. But she wondered which was without feelings and which had feelings.

Thinking about it this way, something seemed a bit strange.

She slowly walked back.

Seeing her, Xia Houshe hesitated before asking: “Did Senior Sister Jian Chou discover anything?”

“Nothing particularly significant. Those who fought here were mostly people who entered the Hidden Realm before us.”

Jian Chou didn’t directly mention Xie Buchen, but how smart was Xia Houshe? From Jian Chou’s phrase “mostly people,” he knew that there was definitely another person involved in the fight, probably Xie Buchen.

Xia Houshe was also curious about the relationship between Xie Buchen and Jian Chou, but since he knew he had no relationship with Jian Chou and didn’t want any, he couldn’t ask.

Since Jian Chou didn’t say, he pretended not to know and simply didn’t ask.

Zuoliu was completely confused by what he heard. Seeing Xiao Jin still “playing dead” beside him, looking like he couldn’t recover, he couldn’t help saying: “Senior Sister Jian Chou, Xiao Jin and I should have been quite slow crossing the river. Everyone should have to cross the river, right? But Fairy Lu and Young Master Ruhua still haven’t appeared. Could it be…”

Hearing this, Jian Chou knew this one was also clever—he didn’t ask about Xie Buchen.

However, Lu Xiangleng and Young Master Ruhua were indeed a bit slow.

But if they hadn’t come for so long, could something have gone wrong along the way?

Jian Chou looked around and guessed the layout of the great river and cloud platform. The great river curved in a semicircle, encompassing the cloud platform within it. Bridges crossed the river, all built toward the central cloud platform. No matter which direction one crossed from, they would end up on this cloud platform.

Next to the two single-log bridges were two wide white jade bridges, like a heavenly thoroughfare.

But these two bridges’ ends were also blurry, with nothing clearly visible.

On the same long road, Young Master Ruhua’s steps were very slow, his hands clasping the fan ribs one by one, slowly opening the fan, then slowly closing it.

His robe covered in flowers had brilliant colors in the darkness.

But at this moment, his entire being emanated an indescribable tranquility and silence.

His gaze fell on the somewhat struggling figure not far ahead, and even Young Master Ruhua couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: “Fairy Lu, why put yourself through this?”

Why indeed?

The entire long road had a repelling force that seemed to strongly resist her progress.

Every step felt like stepping on knife points, with piercing pain stabbing into her heart and lungs, making her feel like a fish that had been gutted and laid out on a chopping board.

Lu Xiangleng walked ahead of Young Master Ruhua, so he couldn’t see her expression, only her increasingly difficult steps and her voice that was no longer light as clouds but still carried a cold clarity.

“This is the path I chose, the suffering I should bear.”

Young Master Ruhua walked slowly, obviously finding this path a thousand times easier than Lu Xiangleng.

Hearing Lu Xiangleng’s response, he was silent for a long time, then smiled mysteriously: “There are countless shortcuts in the world. Didn’t I also not walk the path without feelings that I initially chose? Choosing any path is still choosing—Fairy Lu is too obstinate.”

“Bang.”

Another sudden increase in pressure!

Every time she advanced a section, the pressure this road placed on Lu Xiangleng would suddenly increase by thirty percent!

The brilliant purple-golden light on her body almost instantly dimmed, and even Lu Xiangleng herself couldn’t resist such terrifying pressure, immediately being pressed down onto the bridge surface…

The terrifying pressure seemed to want to crush her so she couldn’t turn over.

As if her walking this path would be some great, great sin…

The path of feelings?

The path without feelings?

“If Heaven considers me without feelings, does that make me without feelings?”

Lu Xiangleng pressed her five fingers against the ground, gritting her teeth, her cold eyes showing several traces of suppressed tears.

She held on desperately, supporting her body that had been pressed prostrate to the ground, actually standing up again with shaking steps.

Her clean robes were already covered with dust.

Her swaying body was unsteady, like a small boat in huge waves…

She stepped forward again, still pressing on: “My path is determined by me.”

“…”

At this moment, Young Master Ruhua’s eyes flickered slightly, watching the figure struggling ahead. She no longer had her usual calm tranquility but possessed a kind of resilience that could move hearts, looking as disheveled as an ordinary person.

But…

He actually felt that this Lu Xiangleng, whose ethereal immortal air hadn’t diminished but had gained a kind of proud backbone, was extraordinary.

Lu Xiangleng, the medicine woman of Baiyue Valley.

Young Master Ruhua smiled, suddenly thinking of Jian Chou. A female cultivator who could earn her respect might truly be exceptional. Perhaps one could say: in these nineteen territories, amid life-and-death struggles, those with great reputations are rarely without substance.

Though he could walk very fast, Young Master Ruhua didn’t overtake Lu Xiangleng. He maintained a very slow pace, staying about ten steps behind her.

This was a distance where he could see Lu Xiangleng’s condition without being too presumptuous.

Falling down and getting up again and again, still moving forward.

Young Master Ruhua just watched from this distance, but suddenly a strange thought arose in his heart: initially he thought he belonged to the path without feelings, but the path without feelings told him he didn’t, so he immediately switched to the path with feelings…

Hmm, was his dao heart a bit unsteady?

With this thought, his gaze flickered as Young Master Ruhua looked again at Lu Xiangleng ahead.

Her robes stained with dust, about to fall to the ground at any moment…

Besides dishevelment, what else could describe this?

His eye twitching slightly, Young Master Ruhua praised himself inwardly: Right, those who understand the times are outstanding. Which path he chose didn’t matter to him at all. What mattered was that his robes couldn’t be messy, his embroidery couldn’t be dirty, and his image couldn’t be ruined.

Thus, Young Master Ruhua’s self-doubt immediately diminished.

He walked on the path with no pressure, no burden, and no guilt about his “dao,” strolling leisurely as if in a garden.

This process was extremely difficult for Lu Xiangleng and seemed incredibly slow.

She didn’t know how long she had endured before finally seeing the end of the long road.

All the pressure disappeared completely at this moment.

Lu Xiangleng was stunned.

Standing there, she felt light as a feather. With the mountain-like pressure gone, her entire being was like a cloud that could be blown away by wind at any moment.

Looking back at where she’d come from, it was wide and bright.

But at this moment, she inexplicably felt that this was the path she had walked…

“Fellow Daoist Xiangleng.”

A familiar, gentle voice suddenly rang out.

Before Lu Xiangleng could hide all the bewilderment and confusion on her face, she turned around.

On the cloud platform ahead, Jian Chou in her moon-white robes stained with blood stood before Xia Houshe and others, holding her Ghost Axe, looking in her direction with a smile.

It was them.

“Fellow Daoist Jian Chou.”

Lu Xiangleng smiled slightly and was about to step down from the end of the long road.

But looking back, Young Master Ruhua had also arrived nearby. She glanced at him and softly said: “Thank you.”

Young Master Ruhua said nothing, casually holding his fan and making a gesture of helplessness.

Then he walked onto the cloud platform together with Lu Xiangleng.

Scanning the area, Young Master Ruhua immediately saw the colorful-faced Xiao Jin and Zuoliu, clicked his tongue twice, then looked at Jian Chou covered in blood: “Oh my, Fellow Daoist Jian Chou is still alive—what an exceptionally hard fate, how rare.”

“…”

Originally quite happy to see them emerge safely, Jian Chou never expected Young Master Ruhua to greet her with such words.

Jian Chou revealed a fake smile with a sinister expression, agreeing: “Yes, quite hard. I just wonder whose fate is harder—yours or mine.”

Hearing this, Young Master Ruhua was speechless.

His fingers gripping the fan tightened, but considering Jian Chou’s combat ability, he finally sighed: “This young master cherishes beauty and fragrance. Seeing you’re currently injured, I won’t compete with you over whose fate is harder.”

“Tch…”

Xiao Jin and Zuoliu simultaneously showed expressions of disbelief.

Young Master Ruhua’s expression immediately soured.

But Jian Chou laughed, about to call everyone to set off.

Unexpectedly, Lu Xiangleng approached, seeing her covered in injuries, her willow-like brows furrowed: “Having entered the Hidden Realm, delaying departure by a moment won’t matter. Fellow Daoist Jian Chou should wait a bit—let me heal your wounds before we set off.”

Following her gaze, Jian Chou looked down at her shoulder where the terrible wound left by Xie Buchen’s Human Emperor Sword still hadn’t completely healed.

What a sharp sword.

Jian Chou glanced at Lu Xiangleng and naturally noticed she was different from usual, though even with some dust on her, that otherworldly quality remained unchanged.

After pondering for a moment, Jian Chou agreed and sat down to meditate.

The others knew that Jian Chou’s battle with Xie Buchen had probably exhausted her strength. Though she seemed fine now, since Lu Xiangleng had offered treatment, there must be good reason.

No one asked about the enmity between Jian Chou and Xie Buchen. They all sat down cross-legged, using this time to adjust their mental state to optimal condition.

Lu Xiangleng took out many pills and spirit herbs from her Qiankun Bag, considering the combination of several medicines and having Jian Chou take them first.

Then her gaze fell on Jian Chou’s shoulder wound. Seeing that the injury showed no change after taking the medicine, she frowned, taking out a pale purple vial and a jade-colored small bowl from her sleeve, pouring colorless, odorless water from the vial.

“This is Heavenly Pure Jade Clear Liquid, capable of breaking all condensed malevolent qi in the world. It was given to me years ago by a wandering monk when I traveled in the Northern Domain. I’ve never really had occasion to use it. Fellow Daoist Jian Chou, your sword wound contains sword malevolence, which is why it won’t heal. This liquid might resolve it.”

The jade bowl was brought before Jian Chou.

Seeing something to drink, Little Marten’s eyes immediately glowed green, and it unhesitatingly rushed forward, only to be slapped away by Jian Chou’s quick reflexes.

Lacking manners, daring to compete for my drink.

Jian Chou didn’t look back at the poor marten covering its head, only accepting the jade bowl: “Thank you, Fellow Daoist Xiangleng.”

Lu Xiangleng nodded slightly.

Young Master Ruhua, sitting cross-legged nearby, opened his eyes, looking at the pale purple vial, then at the bowl of water Jian Chou was drinking, suddenly feeling his face twitch with indescribable heartache.

Even Xiao Jin, who had been playing dead nearby, stared foolishly: Hea-Heavenly Pure Jade Clear Liquid? That thing from the Chan Sect’s Red Dust Spring? Just drinking it like that…

Jian Chou felt nothing unusual, or perhaps simply didn’t care.

The Heavenly Pure Jade Clear Liquid was colorless and tasteless, like drinking plain water. But the moment it entered her mouth, a feeling of heaven and earth’s clarity immediately swept over her heart, followed by a pure, substantial force that spread through her body along with the liquid.

“Puff!”

Several black lines immediately separated from the wound on her shoulder and exploded.

After these black lines disappeared, the terrifying recovery power inherent in Jian Chou’s “Human-Weapon” body immediately manifested.

Almost in the blink of an eye, flesh grew back, re-healed, and the wound completely disappeared.

It seemed those black lines were the “sword malevolence” Lu Xiangleng had mentioned.

“There is no sword in the world that doesn’t kill,” so famous swords having malevolence was practically accepted truth in the nineteen territories.

Sword malevolence had various effects—some could harm the soul, some could accelerate oneself, some could change shape and form, and naturally some like Xie Buchen’s could make wounds never heal…

When master craftsmen forge swords, “malevolence” attaches to the blade when it’s completed, making such swords highly sought after throughout the nineteen territories.

Jian Chou returned the jade bowl, her eyes showing thoughtful intent.

“Now that everything is well, shall we set off, Fellow Daoist Jian Chou?”

Young Master Ruhua’s gaze reluctantly left the jade bowl as he saw Lu Xiangleng putting away the pale purple vial.

The injuries within Jian Chou’s body were healing at a terrifying rate, and even her overall sharp aura was gradually emanating outward as her body recovered.

This was a sword already unsheathed.

She stood up, surveying the surroundings, feeling refreshed and clear-minded, with abundant spiritual power flowing through her body…

Thus, a thought emerged.

She looked directly ahead and said: “Since everyone is well, let’s set off.”

Everyone rose, and without anyone asking where Xie Buchen was, they followed Jian Chou forward.

At the end of the cloud platform was a wide, long road.

They had seen it from a distance, but arriving close up, they were completely shocked by what they saw: this long road was actually built between the cloud platform and the steep cliff face opposite, spanning the natural chasm!

Standing before the road, they felt clouds and mist beneath their feet, and when wind blew, the entire white jade road seemed about to fall.

Dangerous, extremely dangerous!

An old stone tablet stood beside the road, with four characters inscribed: “No Road Behind.”

The vigorous strokes matched exactly the calligraphy on the painted walls they’d seen before.

Jian Chou thought this should be what Buyu Shangren had left behind.

No road behind.

Was this a warning to discourage them as “uninvited guests,” or just the name of this road?

Looking at this modest stone tablet, then at the long road ahead leading to a steep platform on the opposite cliff, Jian Chou narrowed her eyes slightly and suddenly said: “Please wait a moment.”

She had some preparations to make.

After saying this, ignoring how the others looked at her, Jian Chou took out several array discs from her Qiankun Bag: Fudao Shanren had secretly provided quite a few good things for her Hidden Realm expedition.

She placed spirit stones into the array discs one by one, one stone, two stones…

“Click, click…”

The tiny sounds continued.

Young Master Ruhua unconsciously counted: six array discs total, with four hundred ninety-eight spirit stones!

Jian Chou finished preparing one array disc and placed it on the ground.

Starting from under the stone tablet, she arranged them horizontally to the left, one, two, three…

In the blink of an eye, six array discs had been placed along the path they’d just traveled!

“Hum!”

A flash of light, and the entire array disc disappeared completely from its original position, perfectly concealed!

Throughout the process, Jian Chou’s movements were practiced and smooth, with no unnatural expression on her face, as if she felt no psychological burden whatsoever.

But…

Whether Young Master Ruhua or Xia Houshe, all were well-informed people. The moment Jian Chou took out the array discs, they knew: she was preparing to trap someone!

Her action of burying array discs was even more meticulous than burying explosives, done so matter-of-factly!

After completing all this, Jian Chou clapped her hands and slowly stepped back three paces.

The six array discs had completely vanished from the long road. The ground was spotless, the white jade road still a white jade road, perfectly calm with clouds drifting over it, showing no abnormalities.

But…

The calmer it appeared, the more dangerous it was.

Jian Chou slightly raised an eyebrow, restraining the gleam in her eyes, and turned back to find everyone watching her.

She explained calmly: “Prevention is better than cure. Since there are people in the Hidden Realm who don’t belong to our side, and judging from the formations they left to ambush us, they should harbor considerable hostility toward us. This place is currently what we judge to be a necessary passage. According to Junior Sister Nie Xiaowan, the way in and way out are the same. If anyone else wants to come, or if anyone dares to leave before us, this Seventy-Two Killing Chain Formation will make them leave their little lives behind.”

Her smile was gentle, her expression purely benevolent, warm as spring breeze.

But…

The moment her last words came out, everyone couldn’t help but shudder.

Xie Buchen’s whereabouts were still unknown. They’d only seen traces of previous fighting that seemed to involve him, but couldn’t confirm whether Xie Buchen had also taken this road from the cloud platform. If Xie Buchen was still hiding in the grass, who knew if he’d also suffer.

Moreover…

The Seventy-Two Killing Chain Formation…

Who had previously praised Fellow Daoist Xie’s formations so earnestly and even ordered him around?

Yet here you are, showing no mercy at all!

Young Master Ruhua sighed softly and commented: “A human face with a beast’s heart…”