As it turned out, Yuchi Mengxing’s teleportation talismans were every bit as unreliable as she had claimed.
When your cultivation isn’t enough, leave the rest to luck!
And this time, luck clearly hated her.
The moment the teleportation ended, Yuchi Mengxing felt solid ground beneath her feet again.
Her vision had barely steadied when she immediately sensed that something was wrong.
It was too quiet.
Far too quiet.
The air was thick with the damp scent of vegetation and soil.
Towering trees surrounded them on all sides, their dense branches and leaves blocking out most of the light and casting deep shadows across the forest floor.
Yuchi Mengxing slowly raised her head.
Beside her, the badly injured Youqin Jingheng did the same.
Neither of them spoke.
Because in the darkness ahead, a pair of ghostly green eyes suddenly lit up.
Then another pair appeared.
And another.
One after another, eerie green lights emerged between the trees until more than a dozen pairs of glowing eyes were staring directly at them.
Yuchi Mengxing: “…” Youqin Jingheng: “…” The two of them froze.
A cold breeze swept through the forest, rustling the leaves overhead.
Only then did the shadows surrounding them begin to move.
Large wolves emerged one after another from behind the trees.
Their bodies were covered in dark fur tinged faintly with green, while traces of wood-element spiritual energy flowed around their claws and fangs.
Wood-element demonic wolves.
And judging by the number surrounding them, they had clearly been teleported straight into the wolves’ territory.
No.
More accurately— they had landed right in the middle of the pack.
Yuchi Mengxing’s heart instantly went cold.
Youqin Jingheng’s expression wasn’t much better.
He had only just survived being beaten half to death by the Demon-Winged Toad.
His clothes were in tatters, his body was covered in wounds, and he hadn’t even had time to catch his breath.
And now?
Wolves.
An entire pack of them.
For one brief moment, both of them had exactly the same thought.
Maybe they should just lie down, close their eyes, and sleep forever.
At least then they wouldn’t have to keep running for their lives.
Unfortunately, the wolves clearly weren’t planning to give them enough time to contemplate life and death.
The moment Yuchi Mengxing and Youqin Jingheng appeared, the pack had been just as startled as they were.
The wolves stared at the two humans who had suddenly materialized in the middle of their territory.
The two humans stared back.
For several seconds, neither side moved.
Then one of the wolves slowly lowered its body.
“Rrrrr…” A threatening growl rumbled from its throat.
The other wolves immediately reacted.
Their bodies tensed, their claws dug into the ground, and the green glow in their eyes became increasingly fierce.
Yuchi Mengxing’s scalp tingled.
Not good!
She reacted almost instantly.
Before the wolves could fully recover from their surprise, her hand had already darted into her bag.
Whoosh!
A black talisman appeared between her fingers.
Youqin Jingheng’s eyelid twitched the moment he saw it.
Again?!
Yuchi Mengxing didn’t even give him time to speak.
With a flick of her wrist, the Thunder Explosion Talisman shot straight toward the wolves.
“Go!” The nearest wolves had barely begun to move when— BOOM——!
Lightning exploded through the forest.
Brilliant arcs of electricity burst outward with a deafening blast, illuminating the surrounding trees for a brief instant.
The entire wolf pack erupted into furious howls.
“Awooo——!” “Awooo!” Startled by the sudden explosion, the wolves instinctively scattered in all directions.
That was all Yuchi Mengxing needed.
“Perfect!” She didn’t hesitate for even half a second.
Her other hand had already pulled out another talisman.
A teleportation talisman!
Crack!
She activated it immediately.
Her movements were so quick and practiced that even Youqin Jingheng barely had time to react.
The space around them distorted.
The wolves had only just recovered from the explosion when the two humans standing in the middle of their territory blurred and vanished.
The entire sequence had been completed in one smooth motion.
Pull out the Thunder Explosion Talisman.
Throw it.
Create an opening.
Pull out the Teleportation Talisman.
Activate it.
Run!
Not a single movement had been wasted.
Compared with the first time Yuchi Mengxing had used this combination, she was now so ridiculously skilled at it that it almost looked as though she had practiced this escape routine hundreds of times.
Youqin Jingheng: “…” He didn’t know whether he should admire her— or feel sorry for her.
Because somehow, he had the distinct feeling that she was becoming far too good at running for her life.
Fortunately, they escaped the wolves.
Unfortunately, Yuchi Mengxing had clearly celebrated too soon.
When the teleportation ended again, she opened her eyes with the tiniest spark of hope.
Surely this time they would land somewhere normal.
She wasn’t asking for much.
She didn’t need a city.
She didn’t need a village.
She didn’t even need a road.
An empty patch of grass would do!
Anywhere without a magical beast staring at them the moment they arrived would be perfectly acceptable!
The light around them gradually faded.
Yuchi Mengxing slowly opened her eyes.
Then her expression froze.
Youqin Jingheng looked around.
His face went blank.
“…” “…” Another magical beast’s lair.
Yuchi Mengxing’s temple throbbed.
For a moment, she genuinely wondered whether there was something wrong with her teleportation talismans.
Why?!
The mountains were enormous!
There were forests everywhere!
There were empty fields, streams, valleys, cliffs, and countless other places they could have landed!
Yet somehow, every single teleportation seemed determined to drop them right into some magical beast’s territory.
What kind of cursed luck was this?!
Yuchi Mengxing finally snapped.
“What kind of dog-shit luck am I having today?!” Her furious voice echoed through the surroundings.
Youqin Jingheng: “…” He silently looked at her.
Yuchi Mengxing suddenly paused.
Then, very slowly, she turned her head toward him.
Her gaze traveled over his face.
That fair skin.
Those delicate features.
Those peach-blossom eyes.
That face was so beautiful that if he didn’t deliberately lower his voice, people might genuinely mistake him for a girl.
Yuchi Mengxing narrowed her eyes.
A terrifying possibility suddenly occurred to her.
Could it be…
that the problem wasn’t her?
Could it actually be this guy?!
Don’t tell her that this beautiful-looking fellow she had been dragging around was actually the reincarnation of some god of misfortune!
The more Yuchi Mengxing thought about it, the more suspicious she became.
Youqin Jingheng immediately noticed the strange look in her eyes.
“What are you looking at me like that for?” Yuchi Mengxing said nothing.
She merely stared at him for another two seconds before silently looking away.
Forget it.
There was no time to investigate whether this guy was secretly a walking disaster.
Because they had to run again.
And so, their miserable escape continued.
Out of the wolf’s den, only to fall into another beast’s lair.
Out of one dangerous territory, only to land in another.
They escaped one place, activated another teleportation talisman, opened their eyes— and found another magical beast waiting for them.
Again.
And again.
And again.
By the third time, Youqin Jingheng had stopped asking questions.
By the fourth time, his expression had become completely numb.
By the fifth time, the moment the teleportation light faded, his first instinct was no longer to check where they had landed.
Instead, he immediately looked around for magical beasts.
Yuchi Mengxing wasn’t doing much better.
At first, she still cursed.
Then she complained.
Then she began seriously wondering whether her teleportation talismans had some kind of personal grudge against her.
But after being thrown from one dangerous place into another over and over again, she no longer had the energy to complain.
There was only one routine left.
Spot the magical beast.
Throw a Thunder Explosion Talisman.
BOOM!
Create an opening.
Grab Youqin Jingheng.
Activate a Teleportation Talisman.
Run!
Again and again.
The combination of Thunder Explosion Talisman plus Teleportation Talisman had practically become her personal emergency escape technique.
And somehow, relying on this ridiculous combination, the two of them managed to survive five consecutive rounds of this nightmare.
Five times!
By the end of it, Yuchi Mengxing didn’t even want to think about how many years of her life she had probably lost from stress.
After yet another narrow escape, she instinctively reached into her bag.
Her fingers searched around inside.
Then paused.
Yuchi Mengxing frowned.
She searched again.
Once.
Twice.
Her expression slowly changed.
Something was wrong.
She immediately lowered her head and began checking the talismans she had left.
The more she counted, the colder her heart became.
The stack that had once looked reassuringly thick was now pitifully thin.
Her Thunder Explosion Talismans— gone.
Not a single one left.
Yuchi Mengxing’s eyelid twitched.
She hurriedly checked the rest.
The other usable talismans were running dangerously low as well.
And then came the most important ones.
The teleportation talismans.
Yuchi Mengxing pulled them out and counted carefully.
Once.
Then again.
Her expression gradually stiffened.
There was only one left.
Yuchi Mengxing stared at the final teleportation talisman between her fingers, then slowly looked down at her nearly empty bag.
Her heart sank.
The Thunder Explosion Talismans were completely gone.
And the teleportation talismans— there was only one left.
Just one.