It felt as though she had been deceived.
Looking at Song Qing not far away, Yan Zhu was somewhat dazed.
Although the young girl was already trapped and overwhelmed by being surrounded by numerous stone statues, she was not yet at the point of death.
“You tricked me!” Yan Zhu lowered her voice, glaring at the person beside her who was using some unknown method to conceal their figure.
“Spoken offhand, how can that be called a deception?”
The other person showed no hint of remorse, a laugh still lingering in their voice.
“Mainly… I never expected that you would be so anxious about her…”
“By the way, your little girlfriend seems to be at death’s door. Do you want me to step in and save her?”
Yan Zhu ignored the odd title “little girlfriend” as she anxiously watched the young girl fighting fiercely with her sword among the stone statues. Compared to just a moment ago, her attacking speed was noticeably slower, and she had acquired several more wounds.
Meanwhile, the chopped-down stone statues seemed endless. Even when hacked to pieces and scattered on the ground, after a short while, they would always piece themselves back together automatically.
Song Qing was suffering because her eyes had not yet fully healed.
Yan Zhu understood that if things continued this way, the young girl would exhaust her strength entirely, just as Jun Lin had said.
She could not let the situation reach that point.
Scanning her surroundings, Yan Zhu wanted to find a way to break this deadlock.
This place resembled a palace; everything was made of stone. In the center was a platform much higher than the surroundings, upon which sat a huge stone chair.
The stone chair itself was not important; the “person” sitting upon it appeared to be the key.
Unlike the foot soldiers fighting fiercely below, this stone statue was several times larger. It held a broadsword about half a person’s height in its hand and wore a robe with elaborate designs.
Perhaps sensing Yan Zhu’s gaze, it stiffly turned its head, its empty eye sockets aligning with her location.
The broadsword, which had previously been pressed against the ground, was lifted by the statue, its slightly blunt stone tip pointing straight at her.
As if it were a signal for battle, half of the stone soldiers that had been surrounding Song Qing split off. They pivoted their feet and began marching toward the spot where Yan Zhu stood.
Yet, a moment earlier, Yan Zhu had already set off running toward the “person” giving orders on the high platform.
A human’s brain and a stone statue’s brain miraculously synchronized on the same wavelength of thought at that exact moment.
However, the stone statues ran much faster than Yan Zhu.
Before she had even reached halfway, she was surrounded by a group of “foot soldiers” missing arms and legs. Wielding the spears in their hands, they launched a fierce attack against her.
Even so, there was always someone whose speed was even faster.
The little black ball darted out straight like lightning, with only a black afterimage visible to the naked eye.
Taking advantage of this opening, Yan Zhu broke into a fast run and stepped onto the high platform.
Sensing a threatening aura, the stone statue that had been peacefully seated on the stone chair slowly stood up straight.
Meanwhile, those stone foot soldiers surrounding Song Qing and the black cat abandoned the fight without hesitation, rushing over at top speed.
The surrounding area instantly cleared out.
Song Wenqing raised her head slightly, catching sight of the figure on the high platform standing in a standoff with the tall stone statue.
“Yan Zhu.”
With just a single glance, she recognized her.
Earlier during the battle, she had heard the sound of her voice, but at that time she thought she was merely hallucinating.
Ever since stepping into the Immortal Tomb, Song Wenqing had spent practically all her time fighting.
The first layer of the burial chamber contained countless traps and mechanisms, along with a puppet.
The second layer consisted of fire, ice, poisonous gas, and endless stone statues.
Song Wenqing had just traversed fire and ice, and the moment she stepped into this burial chamber, she was swarmed and entangled by numerous stone statues.
Song Wenqing slashed around with her sword, discovering that these things seemed endless. She immediately realized that if this consumption continued, she would be the first to collapse.
At that time, she adopted a strategy: while conserving her strength, she slowly circled around in an attempt to approach the leader atop the high platform.
However, Yan Zhu’s unexpected appearance interrupted her plan.
Noticing that the surrounding stone statues had dispersed, Song Wenqing narrowed her eyes slightly, mobilized the remaining spiritual energy in her body, and kicked off the ground like a released arrow, charging forward.
The next second, before the stone foot soldiers could arrive, she appeared beside Yan Zhu.
With one arm, Song Wenqing pulled Yan Zhu’s waist close, while with the other, she swung her sword and fiercely lopped off the leader’s head.
When this sudden turn of events occurred, no one had time to react.
Even Jun Lin had merely directed her attention toward Yan Zhu, her spell half-condensed in her hand and about to intercept the attack to save her, only to have the opportunity stolen by another figure first.
“Tch.”
Jun Lin let out a soft, unhappy click of her tongue, unable to help once again feeling disdain for this body woven from spiritual herbs.
It was hardly fit for heavy use.
Yet it was the only option for now.
“I will just make one myself when I find the time,” she thought.
Jun Lin quietly watched the two figures backing away while holding each other like Siamese twins, her inner suspicions seemingly confirmed.
It truly is the kind of relationship I imagined.
The core part of the leader stone statue was destroyed, and its tall body exploded into flying stone debris in an instant. Some chunks struck the walls, smashing out large holes.
The foot soldiers below, who had just been about to climb the high platform, also froze. Maintaining their poses from the final second, they remained frozen in that exact spot forever, just like real lifeless objects.
Yan Zhu was held as they retreated until her feet touched the ground, and only then did she snap out of her slight daze.
The strength in the arm holding her waist suddenly slackened, sliding away bonelessly, followed immediately by a muffled groan.
Yan Zhu turned her head slightly to the side, seeing blood overflowing from the corner of Song Wenqing’s lips.
That streak of blood wound downward along the corner of her mouth, ultimately vanishing beneath her mask without a trace.
The young girl’s eyelashes fluttered weakly like a powerless butterfly’s wings, and she pressed the tip of her sword against the ground, barely managing to steady her body.
“Song Qing!”
Startled, Yan Zhu hurried to reach out and support her.
Song Wenqing did not refuse. At some point, she had stopped resisting this person’s closeness. Pressing her lips together to suppress the fresh blood rising in her throat, she leaned her head down and gently rested her chin on Yan Zhu’s shoulder.
Opening her eyes, she saw hair as smooth and dark as a waterfall, along with snow-white ears half-concealed beneath it.
Being so close, she could see it clearly.
Perhaps because the breath Yan Zhu exhaled was overly warm, Song Wenqing noticed a flush of red slowly creeping up the tiny earlobe.
Unaccountably, she felt her own face growing warm as well. Regrettably, having forcefully mobilized too much spiritual energy just moments ago, her chest was now aching severely, and she was temporarily unable to support her own body.
Time slowly passed, and both of them tacitly maintained their original posture, neither speaking a word. The surroundings were so silent that they could hear their breathing gradually growing synchronized.
After who knows how long, Song Wenqing finally recovered slightly.
She did not stand up right away; instead, she caught a scent on Yan Zhu that she had not smelled before.
It ought to be the scent of another person.
She concluded this, a trace of annoyance welling up in her heart. At the same time, however, she felt puzzled, because Yan Zhu rarely had any opportunity to encounter others within the secret realm.
Burying her doubts deep down, Song Wenqing spoke first to ask about something else.
“Why did you come in?”
She still remembered that Yan Zhu had said she would wait for her outside.
“Did some accident happen?”
The heterochromic black cat quietly squatting by Yan Zhu’s feet allowed Song Wenqing to glimpse some of the reasons, and she had already pieced together the truth in her mind with reasonable accuracy.
“This matter… is a long story…”
Thinking of it, Yan Zhu also felt helpless, and she used concise language to describe the events.
The other person fell into a prolonged silence, and then, she felt her shoulder grow light.
Song Wenqing had already left her support and slowly stood up straight on her own.
“Just now… why did you risk your life to save me?”
Hearing this question, which Yan Zhu had never stopped to ponder, she paused slightly.
Yet no sooner had the words left her mouth than Song Wenqing somewhat regretted them.
She often held a contradictory set of feelings toward the person before her.
It was as though she wanted to grow close, yet refused to allow herself to draw near.
Yan Zhu, possessing the aura of the Great Dao around her, ought to be powerful, yet she always felt that Yan Zhu needed protection and feared she would be hurt.
Previously, Song Wenqing had never felt such an emotion toward anyone, and she found herself uncharacteristically plunged into confusion.
“At the time, you couldn’t spare yourself, so I thought… perhaps I could help you…”
Yan Zhu felt that such a thought was only natural for a companion to have, so her tone carried a matter-of-fact certainty.
“You are, beyond reason… far too kind-hearted.”
Song Wenqing finally voiced the words she had buried in her heart for a long time.
Yan Zhu was simply too kind.
Back then, she had once suspected whether this person harbored ulterior motives toward her, but the experience within the dreamscape had overturned that hypothesis.
Although the conclusion she had arrived at was utterly incredible, yet…
Song Wenqing lowered her gaze, having found the reason why she always felt Yan Zhu was fragile.
A tender heart was extremely vulnerable to injury, and herb-eating animals had a hard time surviving long in nature.
Therefore, I am not special either.
She thought. Yan Zhu held goodwill toward everyone; even if the person lying injured before her back then had not been herself, she certainly would have saved them.
Unaware of what was passing through Song Wenqing’s mind, Yan Zhu only looked at the young girl’s trembling eyelashes and asked with some concern, “Are you alright?”
Song Wenqing pressed her lips together and did not answer.
Thinking that the pain rendered her unable to speak, Yan Zhu scanned the surroundings and helped her to an empty patch of ground nearby to rest.
“Tch.”
A soft click of the tongue laden with deep dissatisfaction drifted into her ear.
Yan Zhu ignored it.
Seeming unsatisfied at failing to achieve her goal, the other person used voice transmission to continue: “This is my first time seeing such a clingy little couple.”
The words “little couple” exploded like lightning in a clear sky, making Yan Zhu’s face flush red. Unfortunately, she did not know how to use voice transmission, nor did she want Song Wenqing to know of Jun Lin’s existence, so she could only harbor her anger in secret.
“What, are you even embarrassed now?”
Jun Lin chuckled softly. “It’s a pity your little girlfriend wears a mask; I wonder if she looks as pretty as you do.”
“She only has Foundation Establishment cultivation, yet that sword strike just now produced the might of the Golden Core realm. From where I stand, she possesses extraordinary talent.”
“As it happens, I excel in swordsmanship. It wouldn’t be bad to take her on as a disciple…”
Did this person only have “little couples” and “taking disciples” on her mind all day long?!
Yan Zhu widened her eyes and shouted an internal refutation: “In your dreams!”
Because she was too angry, she shouted several times in succession.
“Hiss! Little child, are you trying to deafen me?”
Jun Lin’s tone sounded even more displeased than before.
Yan Zhu, however, was pleasantly surprised to learn that shouting inside one’s mind allowed for voice transmission. She immediately retorted relentlessly, “Don’t you dare plot against her! You liar!”
Jun Lin was left helpless as well, tasting bitterness for the first time in her life.
“I only tricked you once; why must you nail me to the pillar of shame?”
“Fine, fine, fine, I won’t plot against your little girlfriend anymore…” She continued somewhat unwillingly, “You have no idea how many people outside want to study under me the moment my name is mentioned.”
“Forget it, I can’t be bothered watching you two display affection. I’m leaving.”
As the voice faded from her ear, Yan Zhu felt her sleeve grow heavy on one side. Curiously reaching out, she touched a short, cylindrical object.
“If anything comes up, just blow the flute… Remember, you owe me a favor, and one day I will come to collect it…”
The voice grew distant, eventually dissipating entirely into the air.
Could that person of unknown origins truly leave with such casual ease?
Yan Zhu found it rather astonishing; in her view, Jun Lin could certainly be considered an eccentric character.
“Yan Zhu…”
The clear, cold voice pulled her wandering thoughts back, and Yan Zhu turned her head to meet those amber eyes.
“Let me see what you look like,” its owner said.
As if a long-cherished wish had finally found expression, the very instant the words slipped out, Song Wenqing felt a burden lift from her body.
“Can you see now?”
The person before her seemed to widen her eyes, and at such moments she always revealed an innocent expression resembling a young fawn.
“No,” Song Wenqing shook her head, the desire to see her clearly only growing more urgent. “Even so, I want to see what you look like.”
“May I?”
Not knowing how the young girl intended to see, yet feeling both curious and unable to bring herself to refuse, Yan Zhu gave a slight nod. “You may.”
A fingertip brushed against her brow bone, the slightly cool temperature sliding across her skin yet feeling as though it had ignited a fire, sparking a dense trail of intense heat.
Yan Zhu subconsciously shrank back slightly.
As if anticipating such a reaction, the young girl leaned in closer sideways. Her fingertip traced the curve of Yan Zhu’s brow bone, mapping it out meticulously.
Noticing the earnest expression in those amber pupils, Yan Zhu endured her shyness and stiffened her body.
The slightly cool fingertips gradually grew warm, sliding down from the brow bone to outline the shape of her eyes, then pausing at the tip of her nose, and finally resting upon her lips.
The excessively soft lips stirred ripples in Song Wenqing’s heart. The moment she made contact, a tingling sensation traveled from her fingertip, but she did not stop because of it.
She wanted to see what Yan Zhu looked like, so naturally, she had to know the shape of her lips.
Finally, she cupped the contours of Yan Zhu’s face with her palm. The warmth of her palm was slightly higher, and once she finished confirming it, Yan Zhu’s face had also been warmed all over.
“I know what you look like now, Yan Zhu.”
The amber eyes shone with a faint light.
Song Wenqing thought that no matter when or where, she would always be able to find Yan Zhu now.