Xie Qingyu had deliberately lured them here precisely so they would be drained dry by the formation!
Attempting to withdraw his hand, Xie Lin discovered instead that his palm was firmly suctioned against the array core.
Worse still, the Heart-Shattering Lotus within his body began to churn as a tearing agony pierced straight through his chest!
“Xiao Jin…”
Gritting his teeth, Xie Lin gasped, “If this keeps up, both of us will…”
Abruptly releasing his other hand, Xiao Jin pulled a jade slip from his robes and crushed it!
BOOM!
A formidable surge of spiritual energy erupted, temporarily cutting off the array’s absorption.
Seizing the opening, Xiao Jin seized Xie Lin by the wrist and yanked hard—
Riiip!
The two finally broke free, but Xie Lin’s sleeve tore open, exposing the alluring imprint of the Heart-Shattering Lotus on his forearm.
To make matters worse, the disguise spell on his face also shattered under the shockwave of spiritual energy!
At that exact moment, a squad of Xuantian Sect disciples rushed over to provide reinforcement, spearheaded by none other than the Sect Master’s personal direct disciple—
“Xie Lin?!”
Staring in wide-eyed shock, the disciple demanded, “Why is the young master of the Demonic Cult here?!”
Xie Lin: “…”
Crap, his cover was completely blown!
Pulling him straight behind his back, Xiao Jin stated, “There are extenuating circumstances; I will explain later.”
Yet the disciple shouted back harshly, “Senior Brother Xiao! You’re actually consorting with demonic scoundrels?!”
A temporary stalemate gripped the scene.
Gazing at the swelling numbers of Xuantian Sect disciples closing in around them, Xie Lin knew deep down that there was no getting out of this easily today.
Drawing a deep breath, a sudden laugh escaped him. “That’s right, I am indeed the Young Master of the Netherworld Palace.”
With those words, he ripped off his tattered outer robe to reveal the black attire underneath—
His original, authentic garments.
“Xie Lin!” Xiao Jin barked in a low voice.
Ignoring him, Xie Lin sneered, “The Xuantian Sect is nothing special; their guardian mountain array shatters the moment anyone touches it.”
“Die, demonic wretch!” Several disciples launched furious attacks in unison.
Xie Lin swung his sword to parry, only to catch the sound of Xiao Jin letting out a muffled grunt—
A piercing pain surged through the Heart-Linked Pact; someone had launched a sneak attack on Xiao Jin from behind!
Flaring with sudden rage, Xie Lin lost control of his demonic qi as it burst outward!
Enwreathed in black mist, blood-red light flooded his eyes, and a dark, sinister luster stained the Frost Flower Sword.
“Who dares touch him!”
The fierce roar carried the full weight of demonicmight, forcing the surrounding crowd stumbling backward in retreat.
Even Xie Lin was startled by himself—
Since when did he possess such formidable demonic qi?
[Warning! Heart-Demon value has breached 85%!] The system issued an emergency prompt.
Suppressing the churning demonic qi with sheer willpower, Xie Lin whipped his head around to look at Xiao Jin.
The other was clutching a shoulder wound, his eyes swirling with complex, turbulent emotions.
“Let’s go!”
Abruptly grabbing his wrist, Xiao Jin tossed out an earth-escaping talisman.
“Xiao Jin! You—” The angry roar of the Xuantian Sect disciples was swallowed up by the blinding glare of the talisman.
With a flash of dark to light, the two materialized instantly within the dense, secluded forest behind the mountain.
The moment he steadied his footing, Xie Lin’s legs gave out, sending him dropping to his knees.
Between the backlash of demonic qi and total spiritual exhaustion, wave after wave of blackness swam across his vision.
“You…”
Catching him, Xiao Jin asked with a hoarse voice, “Why did you expose your identity?”
Twitching the corners of his mouth, Xie Lin rasped, “It couldn’t be hidden anyway… cough, cough…”
As a mouthful of blood surged up his throat, he forcefully swallowed it down, only to catch a flicker of heartache in Xiao Jin’s eyes.
“Idiot,” Xiao Jin murmured softly.
As Xie Lin moved to retort, he abruptly realized that their current posture was excruciatingly ambiguous.
Half-leaning against Xiao Jin’s chest, the other’s arm still securely looped around his waist.
“You…”
His earlobes burning red, he moved to push him away when the chaotic sound of approaching voices suddenly echoed from afar.
“Search! They couldn’t have run far!”
Color draining from his face, Xiao Jin yanked Xie Lin upward. “Let’s get out of here first.”
Nodding in agreement, Xie Lin froze the instant he tried to stand.
Something had wrapped tightly around his ankle!
Glancing down, he saw a vine drilling its way up from the underground soil, bursting into tiny, blood-red blossoms all along its length…
The Heart-Shattering Lotus!
“Xiao Jin!” The name barely cleared his lips before the vine gave a violent jerk, dragging him straight down into the earth!
As his final view before the descent, he watched Xiao Jin lunge forward to grab his hand, and then—
The world spun wildly as the two of them plunged together into an endless abyss of darkness.
Mid-fall, Xie Lin instinctively tightened his grip around Xiao Jin’s wrist.
In the pitch-black void, vines coiled upward like living serpents, binding tight around his waist and abdomen as sharp barbs tore through his fabric to pierce his skin.
Letting out a muffled groan, he felt the Heart-Shattering Lotus imprint burn with a searing, fiery agony.
These vines were feeding on his blood!
“Don’t move!”
Xiao Jin’s voice rang right beside his ear, followed immediately by a flash of sword light as the vines cinched around Xie Lin’s waist snapped in two under the blade.
The two crashed heavily onto the damp, freezing ground.
Propping himself up, Xie Lin’s palm brushed against a sticky surface.
It was blood, but not his own.
“You’re hurt?”
Pivoting sharply, he utilized the faint, crimson glow of the Heart-Shattering Lotus to spot a vast expanse of dark staining Xiao Jin’s right shoulder.
Without answering, Xiao Jin scanned their surroundings with fierce vigilance. “This is the Xuantian Sect’s forbidden ground—the source of the Heart-Shattering Lotus.”
Only then did Xie Lin register that they occupied a massive subterranean cavern. Blood-colored vines crawled all across the walls, while countless lotus buds hung suspended from the cavern ceiling like rows of scarlet lanterns.
Most terrifying of all was the giant lotus in the exact center—
Towering fully three zhang high with its petals half-closed in a somber bloom, human-shaped black shadows could be faintly discerned writhing within its core!
“That is…” Xie Lin’s throat tightened.
Lowering his voice, Xiao Jin explained, “An immature lotus servant.”
“The Heart-Shattering Lotus uses cultivators as nourishment, bearing fruit once every century.”
Recalling Xie Qingyu’s rotting imprint, Xie Lin instantly connected the dots: “So Xie Qingyu is…”
Tearing off a strip of his sleeve to hastily bandage his shoulder wound, Xiao Jin replied, “A failed fruit.”
“He’s on the verge of suffering a demonic backlash, which is why he was so desperate to capture you.”
A heavy jolt rattled Xie Lin’s chest. “Capture me?”
Gazing at him, a complex glimmer surfaced in Xiao Jin’s eyes. “Your Heart-Shattering Lotus is flawless.”
Before Xie Lin could process the implication of those words, the surrounding vines began squirming violently!
“It’s found us!”
Snatching Xie Lin’s hand, Xiao Jin urged, “Run!”
Sprinting deeper into the cavern as they fled, Xie Lin glanced back over his shoulder to watch in horror as countless eyes blinked open all across those vines, locking dead onto them!
“There’s a fork ahead!”
Xiao Jin pointed toward three separate tunnels.
As Xie Lin moved to pick the middle one, an abrupt spasm seized his heart—a fierce wave of crisis surged through the Heart-Linked Pact!
“Right side!”
Yugging Xiao Jin toward a sharp turn, he shouted, “It’s an ambush in the middle!”
The moment they dove into the right-hand tunnel, a thunderous boom echoed behind them as the central entrance was completely sealed shut by a wall of thick vines.
Shooting him a look of profound astonishment, Xiao Jin asked, “You could sense it?”
Nodding, Xie Lin panted, “The resonance of the Heart-Linked Pact.”
The words barely left his lips before his legs buckled beneath him, sending him dropping straight to his knees.
The Heart-Shattering Lotus seal flared as searing as a red-hot iron brand, while demonic qi rampaged unbridled through his meridians.
“Ngh…”
Clenching his teeth tight, a cold sweat drenched his back in a single instant.
Dropping into a crouch beside him at once, Xiao Jin pressed a hand against his chest, channeling spiritual energy to suppress the rampaging demonic qi.
Though the cool fingers pressed flat against his skin, Xie Lin felt an intensifying, suffocating heat.
“Hang in there.”
Lowering his voice, Xiao Jin warned, “A rampage of demonic qi will alert the mother lotus.”
Nodding laboriously, Xie Lin experienced a sudden, irrational impulse the moment Xiao Jin withdrew his hand acting entirely on instinct, he clamped his fingers tight around the other’s wrist.
Both froze instantly.
“I…”
Eager to offer an explanation, Xie Lin realized he couldn’t formulate a single plausible reason.
He just… didn’t want to let go of Xiao Jin.
Amidst the pitch-black darkness, Xiao Jin’s gaze ran deep like a fathomless pool.
After a brief pause, he turned his hand to wrap his fingers securely around Xie Lin’s, speaking softly, “Let’s get out of here first.”
With his earlobes burning hot, Xie Lin allowed himself to be pulled forward step by step.