A’luobei had originally wanted to express his thanks and take the opportunity to get closer to her, but hearing her words now, he couldn’t help but be stunned. Then he said stubbornly, “Who’s following you? Is this desert your family’s property? You’re allowed to walk here, but I’m not?”

Upon hearing this, Qing Xia stopped and turned to look at A’luobei. After a long silence, she said in a deep voice, “The desert is vast and dangers lurk everywhere. Being so selfish and willful, have you ever thought about how worried your family would be? You have no sense of responsibility at all.”

Having said this, she turned and walked away.

A’luobei was furious and wanted to follow again. Without turning back, Qing Xia said, “Since we’re each going our own way, you don’t need to follow me. My arrows aren’t just for shooting beasts—they can also be aimed at people I don’t like.”

The desert was desolate, and A’luobei froze upon hearing these words.

The next day during the march, the girl was nowhere to be seen. Qing Xia felt somewhat relieved, but before noon, she had caught up again. With that stubborn appearance of hers, Qing Xia, being extremely intelligent and having the precedent of Dongfang Yu’er, how could she not understand what was happening? She could only smile bitterly and helplessly, while secretly having to look after her.

Who knew that by evening, there were more and more wolves, and even small packs of wolves kept passing by the group. But these wolves seemed to have a specific destination—they didn’t even glance at the people and hurried forward.

That night, after Qing Xia had settled the camp, scouts returned to report that ahead there were large groups of wolves gathering, numbering fully ten thousand. Even though Qing Xia was extremely bold, hearing this made her scalp tingle.

Ten thousand wolves—if they encountered them, how great would the losses be?

Immediately, she took more than twenty men and quietly followed the scouts to investigate, instructing the remaining soldiers to prepare large quantities of dry branches for lighting fires and to follow shortly after.

Seeing this, A’luobei recklessly and secretly followed behind.

After half an hour’s journey, following the wind direction, the increasingly thick stench hit them in the face. Climbing up a sand dune, even someone as experienced as Qing Xia felt her whole body turn cold, her hands and feet as if plunged into an icy abyss.

She saw that on the vast sand dunes, densely packed wolf packs were arrayed on one side, thousands upon thousands, countless in number. However, this alone wasn’t enough to shock her so greatly—after all, with the scouts’ earlier report, she had already mentally prepared herself. But on the opposite side of the wolf pack, red, blue, and purple multicolored venomous snakes covered the ground like a blanket, tangled together, raising their heads and flicking their tongues, terrifying and hideous, seemingly confronting the wolf pack.

“Wench! Come out and die!” Just as everyone was stunned, a delicate shout suddenly rang out, crisp and decisive like breaking ice and frost.

Qing Xia was startled by the voice, her eyes immediately widening in shock as she looked toward the source of the sound.

She saw a young woman in emerald green robes standing among the wolf pack, holding a green bamboo flute in her hand. Her hair was done in fine braids, her eyebrows bright and her teeth white. Under the cold moon, she possessed a fierce, frosty beauty.

At this moment, a delicate laugh suddenly rang out. From among the dense mass of snakes, a woman in black robes with an exposed chest and back, her eyes alluring and her demeanor seductive to the bone, slowly emerged. Wherever she went, the snakes gave way. The woman walked gracefully to the center and said with a smile, “My dear sister, you’ve been chasing me for six years—aren’t you tired of it yet? Today you’ve arranged such a grand spectacle. Are you trying to make trouble for your sister?”

“Cut the nonsense!” the green-robed girl said angrily, her willow eyebrows raised and her pretty face filled with anger. “If you still won’t tell the truth obediently today, this lady will tear you into thousands of pieces and throw them all out to feed the wolves!”

“Oh my, is sister trying to frighten me?” the black-robed woman laughed. “Sister has always been quite timid and can’t withstand such intimidation from you.”

“Ousi Lanya, stop playing games with me here. I’ve chased you for tens of thousands of li. Do you think you can still escape today? If you don’t tell me Yang Feng’s whereabouts today, I will definitely dismember you!”

“Lie Yunji?” Qing Xia frowned and murmured.

Indeed, that green-robed girl was none other than Lie Yunji, one of the Seven Tree Demon Women who had disappeared together in the underwater prison of Penglai Hong that day. And that black-robed woman was the demon woman Ousi Lanya from the Wuxian tribe of Nanjiang. According to what Qi’an had said, she had now allied with Qi Yan. Since Qi Yan had fallen, why would she appear here? Could it be that Qi Yan also had a hand in this joint effort between North Qin and Xichuan to frame South Chu?

“When did I ever say I was going to run? My dear sister, since you’re so attached to your sister, today let’s have a good intimate moment.” Having said this, she suddenly picked up a colorful panpipe and began playing it with her head raised back. The snake horde immediately seemed to receive instructions and, regardless of the numerous wild wolves opposite them, surged forward like a fierce tide with baring fangs.

“When there’s no tiger in the mountains, the monkey proclaims himself king. You dare to embarrass yourself with such petty tricks?” Lie Yunji snorted coldly, immediately playing her green bamboo flute. Ten thousand vicious wolves simultaneously raised their heads and howled, roaring as they charged toward the opposing snake horde.

This was the most terrifying battle Qing Xia had ever witnessed in her life. Snakes and wild wolves entangled together, roaring and snarling, rolling and howling in fury, seeking each other’s death, terrifying and shrill, completely losing all reason. She had long heard of the reputation of the Nanjiang demon women but had always been dismissive in her heart, never taking them seriously. But seeing this now, she understood the power hidden within the Nanjiang witchcraft and sorcery. If such a force suddenly appeared during a battle between two armies, how terrifying would that be?

Increasingly shrill howling sounds rang out, and it was impossible to tell who had the upper hand. Rolling waves of putrid stench permeated the air, giving off a nauseating stench. Even though everyone covered their noses, they could hardly resist those waves of foul odor rushing into their nostrils. Countless eagles and vultures arrived in an instant, circling and screeching, as if encouraging the combatants below. The panpipe was desolate, the bamboo flute shrill, mixed with the long hisses of venomous snakes and the roars of wild wolves—it was exactly like the depths of the Asura underworld, filled with a suffocating, eerie atmosphere.

Just then, a scream suddenly came. Qing Xia’s eyes were sharp, and turning her head, she saw a small snake that was entirely green had somehow gotten close to Lie Yunji’s side. Taking advantage of her inattention, it viciously bit her arm. Dark blood immediately gushed out, and Lie Yunji’s flute playing immediately went off-key.

The wolf pack instantly seemed to come to their senses. Seeing the venomous snakes before them that were even more ferocious than themselves, they were immediately terrified. Dozens of wolves on the periphery fled in panic and disappeared in an instant. Lie Yunji was furious and, despite being injured, forced herself to continue playing the flute to control the wolf pack. Who knew that not only was the fleeing trend not suppressed, but it became even more serious. In less than a moment, half the wolf pack had already fled. The venomous snakes took advantage and attacked, and the remaining half could not resist, gradually falling into disadvantage.

Qing Xia frowned and whispered a few words to a black-clad guard beside her. That person immediately left upon hearing the instructions.

After a long while, there were very few wolves left. If not for the remaining wolves fighting with desperate ferocity, they would probably have been bitten to death by the venomous snakes long ago. However, at this moment, Lie Yunji suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. The flute sound immediately became inaudible, the panpipe took advantage and rose, the venomous snakes hissed and screamed, and in an instant they engulfed the wolf pack like an ocean.

Ousi Lanya said with a smile, “Good sister, don’t blame sister for being heartless. It’s really because you’re too unlikeable.” Having said this, she suddenly grasped a long whip with a gleaming tip that seemed to be coated with deadly poison. She slowly approached, and with a swish, cracked the whip, tightly wrapping it around Lie Yunji’s neck. With a cold smile, she immediately exerted force with her hand.

At this critical moment, a black arrow suddenly broke through the air, its momentum alarming and swift beyond compare. Catching her off guard, it whooshed and drove deep into Ousi Lanya’s shoulder.

Ousi Lanya’s reaction was also quite quick. With a muffled grunt, she actually didn’t fall to the ground but instead retreated swiftly, reaching a distant spot in a few moves. Covering her wound with her hand, she looked sharply toward where the arrow had come from and said sternly, “Who dares to wound someone with a sneak attack?”

“You’re allowed to use underhanded methods, but I’m not allowed to wound with a sneak attack? Where in the world is there such logic?” Qing Xia snorted coldly, flicked her cloak, and walked leisurely down from the sand dune. Looking at Ousi Lanya with murderous intent in the corner of her eyes, the corner of her mouth slightly curved upward with an indescribable fierceness.

Ousi Lanya frowned and looked for a long while, then suddenly snorted coldly and said, “So it’s you. It’s been a long time. I didn’t expect you were still alive.”

“Since you haven’t gone to hell yet, how could I go first? Heaven has eyes—today it finally let me run into you. Old grudges and past enmities, let’s settle them all together.”

Ousi Lanya smiled wickedly and said, “Good. Since you’re so eager to die, I’ll fulfill your wish and send you to be a pair of ill-fated lovers together with that short-lived ghost Qin Zhiyan.”

Upon hearing this, Qing Xia’s eyes turned cold, and she said in a low tone, “Who will live and who will die is still unknown. Isn’t it a bit early for you to be celebrating now?”

Ousi Lanya laughed coldly and was about to play the bamboo flute when suddenly thunderous hoofbeats rang out. Ousi Lanya was greatly alarmed and turned to look, only to see torches illuminating the dead night like changing sky. Qing Xia laughed coldly, her voice carrying an undisguisable cold gleam as she said icily, “I’d like to see whether your venomous snakes are more formidable or my army!”

Cold wind howled, torches blazed uniformly, and Ousi Lanya’s face immediately turned snow white.

The long wind reversed direction, and Qing Xia’s cloak fluttered and flew in the dark night like eagle wings. In the silent black night, all things had already fallen asleep. Lie Yunji sat in the large tent, looking at Qing Xia at the entrance with a cold expression, not speaking for a long time.

Qing Xia put down the medicine in her hand, walked over and tore open the clothing on her arm. She saw that where the venomous snake had bitten had been given simple treatment. Although Ousi Lanya’s poison was fierce, Lie Yunji was also an expert in the way of poisons, so her life wasn’t in danger. After changing her medicine and putting down a set of clean clothes, she slowly stood up.

“You,” Lie Yunji suddenly spoke, her voice somewhat low. The green-robed woman bit her lip slightly, thought for a moment, and still said, “Do you have any news of him?”