The atmosphere was truly quite awkward.

Gu Baiying supported Zanxing’s back with one hand, protecting her in his embrace, while his silver spear trembled slightly in his other hand, emitting a faint ringing sound.

Mu Cengxiao had been sent crashing heavily to the ground by that spear strike. This was with Gu Baiying restraining his Yuanli somewhat—if he hadn’t held back, Mu Cengxiao would have lost half his life.

Mendong and the others hurriedly ran in after them. Upon entering, they saw Zanxing protected in Gu Baiying’s embrace and Mu Cengxiao lying unconscious on the ground. Mendong cried out in dismay: “What did you do?”

Having just fought with the unclear-minded Mu Cengxiao, her clothing had been slashed to pieces by the blade in several places. Though not to the point of being indecent, it was still quite tattered and invited speculation.

“Junior Sister,” Tian Fangfang looked at her with uncertain alarm: “Did Junior Brother force himself on you?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Gu Baiying’s expression suddenly turned cold, and his Xiugu Spear burst forth with overwhelming killing intent. Zanxing quickly grabbed the corner of his robe, stopping his imminent action to clean house, and said weakly: “No, don’t misunderstand. We didn’t do anything—there wasn’t time yet.”

Mu Cengxiao did have some capability. If that flower fragrance had been inhaled by someone else, they would have already gone mad and lost all reason. Yet Mu Cengxiao could endure until now, barely maintaining his clarity—it was truly not easy.

“Why does it sound like you’re a bit regretful when you say that?” Mendong looked at her suspiciously: “You couldn’t be resentful that we appeared at the wrong time and deliberately interrupted you, could you?”

“That’s right,” Tian Fangfang also seemed to remember something: “Junior Sister, logically speaking, your cultivation is about the same as Junior Brother’s. Even if your Yuanli was previously damaged, you shouldn’t have been suppressed to that extent. How could you have no power to fight back, unless you…” He didn’t continue, looking at Zanxing meaningfully.

Zanxing nearly choked on her breath. What did they mean by this, suspecting that she deliberately acted weak and helpless so Mu Cengxiao could have his way?

She looked at her fellow disciples with heartbreak: “I never thought I was this kind of person in your hearts.”

“We didn’t mean it that way…” Tian Fangfang scratched his head embarrassedly.

“All of you, shut up.” The pleasantries were interrupted by Gu Baiying. He grasped Zanxing’s wrist as if testing her Yuanli, then froze, his gaze falling on her as he said: “You weren’t affected by the Liuhuan grass?”

“So that glowing flower is called Liuhuan grass.” Zanxing said to herself, “That flower fragrance does not affect me.”

“Impossible,” Mendong jumped up immediately, looking completely incredulous: “Liuhuan grass is something that controls anyone with desire, male or female, as long as they inhale it. Even someone with my master’s level of cultivation couldn’t escape it. You’re only at the Golden Core stage—how could Liuhuan grass not affect you? And Senior Brother Mu,” Mendong found it strange: “Though he seems somewhat irrational, he’s fine. Could this be fake Liuhuan grass?”

Zanxing remained silent. Mu Cengxiao and she—one were the protagonists, the other had the Xiaoyuan Pearl—so naturally they wouldn’t be so easily affected. However… Zanxing caught the key point in his words: “Master Uncle Yueguang? Has he encountered Liuhuan grass before?”

“Of course,” Mendong replied without thinking, “When Master was young, he entered a secret realm for trials and happened to encounter blooming Liuhuan grass. There was also a female cultivator from the Hehuan Sect there. As a result, the two of them engaged in dual cultivation in the secret realm for seven days and seven nights. Fortunately, that female cultivator had a special constitution and could transfer some Yuanli to Master during dual cultivation; otherwise, Master would have died on the spot from yang essence depletion.”

“Oh?” Tian Fangfang’s expression stirred: “I never expected Master Uncle Yueguang to have such an extraordinary past. But what happened between that female cultivator and Master Uncle afterward?”

“After that trial, Master’s body was damaged. That female cultivator despised him for being inadequate and of no help to her cultivation, so she dumped him. Master suffered greatly because of the Liuhuan grass, which is why he recorded this flower in his spiritual herb compendium, instructing us to recognize this grass and never repeat his mistakes.” Mendong paused, then added: “This is my master’s secret—you mustn’t tell anyone.”

Everyone made “mm-hmm” sounds, promising not to tell.

“Master said that once Liuhuan grass blooms, even destroying it is useless. We can only wait for time to pass and the flowers to wither before it ends. We can’t keep staying here either—it’s better to leave this place first.” Mendong said.

What he said made sense. Mu Cengxiao had nearly made a grave error after inhaling just a bit of flower fragrance. If their entire group of men and women all fell victim, the Taiyan Sect would have a major scandal.

Gu Baiying lifted Zanxing into a horizontal carry, saying coldly: “Let’s go up first.”

“What about Junior Brother Mu?” Tian Fangfang asked.

Mu Cengxiao had been knocked down by Gu Baiying’s spear strike. The Xiugu Spear contained Yuanli, which was still pressing down on him, preventing him from getting up. Meng Ying walked over, pulled out a large burlap sack from her Qiankun Bag, and without a word, stuffed Mu Cengxiao headfirst into it, then lifted the sack like carrying a piece of cargo, saying calmly: “Let’s go.”

Zanxing: “…”

She called out, “Wait! The sacred tree’s fruit…”

Mu Cengxiao had only picked one fruit when the Liuhuan grass bloomed, but one fruit might not be enough to repair Gu Baiying’s damaged spiritual meridians. There were about four or five fruits scattered above, glowing with golden light.

Gu Baiying waved his Xiugu Spear, and the fruits above fell in response. Mendong scrambled over rolling and crawling to collect those golden fruits into his Qiankun Bag, incidentally picking up Mimi, who was still sleeping soundly on the ground.

The Liuhuan grass didn’t bloom again.

Zanxing breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed this flower only bloomed when fruit was picked for the first time. For ordinary people, inhaling the flower fragrance without preparation couldn’t last even a quarter-hour, so the Liuhuan grass naturally did not need to bloom a second time.

Then a white light flashed before their eyes, and they returned to the previous cave where they had encountered the sword tomb.

Meng Ying released her grip, and the sack containing Mu Cengxiao fell with a thud. Without the stuffy flower fragrance of the Liuhuan grass, everyone felt much more comfortable.

The sack made rustling sounds. Tian Fangfang quickly went over to untie it and pull Mu Cengxiao out.

Naturally, Meng Ying wouldn’t keep a torn sack in her Qiankun Bag for no reason. This sack could be used to capture fierce beasts. Sometimes, when encountering powerful, fierce beasts causing havoc everywhere, directly killing them would be wasteful, so they’d put them in sacks and bring them back to the sect. Some, after being tamed, could be used to protect the people of Pingyang Town.

However, they hadn’t caught any fierce beasts this time—instead, they’d used it on their people.

As soon as Mu Cengxiao was released, his expression wasn’t completely clear yet. His gaze was still confused, and his face flushed as he murmured: “Senior Sister Meng.”

Everyone’s gaze “swooshed” toward Meng Ying.

The relationship between these two was unclear—one was a new disciple still naive upon entering the sect, the other was a proud daughter of heaven with exceptional cultivation being groomed as the future sect leader. Mu Cengxiao seemed to have special feelings for Meng Ying, but it was unknown whether Meng Ying also harbored any special feelings for Mu Cengxiao.

Just as Zanxing was thinking this, she saw Meng Ying calmly walk over and, without hesitation, slap Mu Cengxiao across the face.

Mu Cengxiao was stunned for a moment.

Meng Ying looked at him coldly: “Are you awake now?”