The forest rustled silently as countless demons and fierce beasts gathered, their eyes glowing like ghost fires, staring greedily at the disciples on the ground. The Zhu Yan’s howl had attracted an innumerable horde of monsters, all converging in this part of the woods.
Li Fei involuntarily took several steps back. The spiritual energy within her body seemed to have solidified, rendering her unable to use even a fraction of it. How could she escape? Everyone else was unconscious on the ground; how could she flee alone?
Suddenly, her back bumped into something. She nearly jumped in fright, then felt a pair of arms tightly embracing her, squeezing so hard it hurt. Lei Xiuyuan’s deep voice whispered above her head, “Run quickly.”
Run? Li Fei turned her head and gazed at him in confusion. His face was so close, his heavy breaths falling on her ear.
This time, he didn’t avoid her gaze. He looked at her silently, his misty eyes reflecting only her image, her alone.
Li Fei felt a wave of bewilderment in her heart. Her lips moved, wanting to say something, but he suddenly smiled at her. A golden light flashed in his eyes, followed by an immensely radiant giant sword falling from the sky. He raised his hand to support the giant sword, then forcefully struck it. The sword shattered instantly, transforming into countless hair-thin golden light blades.
These tiny golden light blades hovered around her, shimmering and swirling, enveloping her entire body like a mist.
What was this? How could he use celestial techniques?
As Li Fei was still in shock, she suddenly felt his burning hand caress her face. Then, a warmth on her forehead as his lips gently kissed it.
“Run quickly.”
Lei Xiuyuan picked her up and threw her with all his might.
Li Fei had never been so surprised in her life. Her body soared through the air as if riding clouds and mist, thrown far by him. She finally landed hard amidst the densely packed fierce beasts. The golden light blades surrounding her body immediately began to dance as they touched the beasts. Black blood exploded everywhere, and in the blink of an eye, the beasts were cut into pieces, not even bone fragments remaining.
These light blades were so powerful?
Li Fei’s mind was in a whirl, unable to process what had just happened. Lei Xiuyuan had thrown her? He had cast some celestial technique on her? Telling her to run alone?!
The demons and fierce beasts howled, surging forward like a tide. Some were sliced to pieces by the light blades around her, but more circled her, charging toward the unconscious disciples.
He wanted her to escape alone, leaving her to watch him die.
Had he gone mad?
Li Fei ran back towards him with all her might, but it was futile. She couldn’t make it in time! They would be torn to shreds by the horde of monsters!
She felt a sudden “buzz” in her head, followed by intense dizziness that made her lose her balance and fall hard to the ground. Something hot and boiling inside her body wanted to burst out. This unfamiliar sensation caused her unbearable pain, making her roll on the ground, screaming.
Suddenly, the scorching energy within her body breached some unknown dam and exploded around her. All she could see was white, an endless expanse of white. The surrounding chaos abruptly ceased, leaving only deathly silence and a soft white light enveloping the entire world.
After an indeterminate time, Li Fei suddenly stirred, as if awakening from a dream. The white light began to recede rapidly, finally returning to her body, and surrounding her before gradually fading into nothingness.
At first, there was no sound around her. Gradually, the sound of the wind returned, followed by the rustling of leaves. The green grass and trees around her remained unchanged. The unconscious disciples still lay on the ground, but the miasma entwining their bodies had vanished. The dense horde of demons and fierce beasts had also disappeared without a trace. Only the Zhu Yan remained sitting opposite her, its mouth half-open, its bleeding golden eyes wide with shock.
It suddenly closed its mouth and spoke in a voice that sounded like a sigh, “…How formidable.”
As soon as it finished speaking, its enormous body began to scatter like sand, blown away by the wind, leaving no trace behind.
She stared at all this in a daze, her mind both clear and unclear. It was an indescribably mysterious feeling as if she had known what she had been since birth, yet when she tried to grasp the thought, she couldn’t remember what she was. She was both shocked and amazed by what she saw, yet also felt it was natural.
There was a place in this valley that filled her with nostalgia – that sealed burial ground. Where was it? Where was it now?
Li Fei unconsciously started to walk, but suddenly, she saw Lei Xiuyuan. He lay motionless on the ground, blood pooling beneath him, staining the earth red.
She snapped back to reality and ran wildly towards him, clutching his body tightly in her arms. His eyes were tightly shut, his breath as thin as a thread, his cold cheek pressed against hers. So cold, he was so cold. He had nearly died. Telling her to escape alone? What was the point of her escaping alone? If he died, what meaning would there be in her escape?
Li Fei subconsciously raised her hand, not even forming a seal, and a healing net fell on his body. The ice-blue color was several times brighter than usual, and the spiritual energy was much more abundant.
She stared blankly at Lei Xiuyuan and the unfamiliar healing net.
What had just happened?
She felt herself shaking violently. Was it from fear? Or shock? Was she dreaming?
Suddenly, a long-unheard raspy voice sounded in her ear. It was furious: “You stupid fool! What have you done?! Your primordial spiritual energy has awakened me prematurely!”
Li Fei turned her head in confusion and saw a huge snow-white nine-tailed fox standing beside her. Its narrow, pale green eyes, full of spirit, now blazed with anger as it glared at her.
“…Ri Yan?” she called softly.
Was this a dream?
The fox, seething with rage, was about to continue its tirade when it saw her confused gaze directed at itself. Then, she suddenly collapsed and fainted.
After what seemed like a long, hazy sleep, Li Fei suddenly opened her eyes to see the setting sun blood-red, with twilight stretching for miles. Only the clear sound of the wind could be heard.
So, it was a dream… She secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then heard a familiar voice beside her softly say, “You’re awake?”
Turning her head, she saw Lei Xiuyuan crouching beside her. His face was still pale, but as he looked at her, his usually calm and composed expression showed a hint of undisguised excitement and joy.
Li Fei stared at him for a long time. Everything that had happened in the afternoon suddenly flooded back into her mind. Remembering how he had thrown her out earlier, telling her to escape alone, her throat suddenly felt as if it were filled with sand.
“Lei Xiuyuan!” she called out sharply. “Have you gone mad? Were you insane earlier?!”
She grabbed his collar fiercely, but seeing the bloodstains all over his body, wounds healed but blood not yet dry, her vision suddenly blurred. Large tears rolled down her cheeks. She had truly thought he would die.
Suddenly, she felt herself being squeezed tightly as he embraced her again. The smell of blood, sweat, and dust from his body overwhelmed her senses, enveloping her entire world. He said nothing, only pressing her wet face against his chest, holding the back of her head.
From beginning to end, he didn’t say a word.
This was for the best; she didn’t want to hear anything right now.
After what seemed like an eternity, Li Fei felt as if she was about to suffocate. His clothes were wet with her tears and blood. She could feel his heart beating rapidly and strongly in his chest. As she gradually came to her senses, she realized she was in his arms. A flood of emotions – embarrassment, shyness, joy, and fear – washed over her.
“…Why aren’t you saying anything?” she asked softly, her voice a bit hoarse and still nasally.
Now she hoped he would say something.
His voice was also very low: “What should I say?”
She didn’t know either, but unwilling to let the silence continue, she angrily said, “If you ever do this again, I’ll cut you to pieces myself before any demon can!”
Lei Xiuyuan chuckled and gently patted her head. “You’re filthy, covered in snot.”
Li Fei raised her head in irritation, then heard a few dry coughs nearby. Only then did she realize that Su Wan, Ying Yuankai, and the others were all a short distance away, each staring fixedly at some other spot, pretending not to notice the two of them embracing and whispering.
Feeling extremely embarrassed, she hurriedly stood up and tidied her hair and clothes. Ying Yuankai finally approached with a forced laugh, “Uh… Junior Brother Lei, what… what happened earlier? When we woke up, we found the miasma gone and no trace of the Zhu Yan…”
Moreover, there were large patches of black blood not far away, clearly from fierce beasts. Could someone have used celestial techniques in such a miasma-filled place to single-handedly kill Zhu Yan? Come to think of it, there seemed to be no trace of demonic energy or miasma in the vicinity. Previously, one could always sense some demonic energy from several miles away, but now it seemed as if everything within a ten-mile radius had become extremely clean. How strange.
Lei Xiuyuan shook his head. “We don’t know either. We just woke up.”
Right! They just woke up and were already embracing! The male disciples felt a mix of heartbreak, regret, and envy. The most beautiful junior sister, snatched away by this guy!
Everyone searched the area for a while but couldn’t find Zhu Yan’s corpse. This incident had come suddenly and ended just as abruptly, leaving everyone bewildered and unable to make sense of it.
Suddenly, there was a whoosh of wind overhead as someone rapidly descended. It was Le Cailing, who had flown away on a cloud as soon as she woke up. Her face was ashen as she urgently asked, “Where’s the Zhu Yan?! Who killed Zhu Yan? I’ve searched for a long time but couldn’t find it!”
No one answered her. After this incident, everyone had lost any goodwill towards this Junior Sister Le. No matter how beautiful she was, without a good personality, it was useless!
Su Wan, seeing her panicked state, felt a bit of sympathy and spoke up, “We all just woke up, and no one knows what happened. You and I are both young disciples; we shouldn’t have provoked a fierce beast like Zhu Yan in the first place. This incident was caused by you, after all. Don’t you think you owe us an explanation? Why did you go looking for the Zhu Yan alone?”
Le Cailing paused for a moment, seeming to realize that no one would answer her questions. She finally said, “I needed Zhu Yan’s heart. It would greatly benefit my cultivation technique. I’ve answered your question, now tell me quickly – did Zhu Yan escape or die? Where is it?”
Zhu Yan’s heart would greatly benefit her cultivation technique. Su Wan shook her head. “We don’t know where it is – you’re truly absurd. Even if Zhu Yan’s heart would greatly benefit your cultivation technique, what’s the point of cultivation if you’re dead? There should be a limit to overestimating oneself. Didn’t Elder Qingle warn you before we left?”