Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!
She couldn’t fly!!!!!
Tian Luo flailed in panic, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest. In the critical moment, she grabbed Lu Qizhi’s collar and fell together with him.
At a time like this, Newton’s laws were displaying their power perfectly. Under the acceleration of gravity, they were falling unbelievably fast.
Tian Luo felt that they would smash into the ground in the very next second.
Yet her brain was still working at lightning speed. One moment, she was thinking that maybe she could use the villain as a cushion. That way, she definitely wouldn’t be smashed into several pieces. But if she did that, his injuries would only get worse.
The next moment, she thought that the villain probably didn’t fear pain anyway, and she still had foot-soaking water she could make him drink to heal.
Just as they were about to hit the ground, Tian Luo somehow exploded with strength at the last second. Grabbing Lu Qizhi by the collar, she forcibly lifted him upward a little before impact.
But after that tiny boost, she had only enough time to sigh in relief before they crashed heavily to the ground.
Tian Luo landed right inside the villain’s open collar in a rather intimate position.
Fortunately, because the villain was unconscious and stiff as a board, there wasn’t really any issue.
Bracing her hands against his chest, she sat up.
The bigger problem was that the large hole in his chest had started bleeding again.
Previously, although his skin had been bluish, at least the surface was intact. There hadn’t been a gaping hole.
But now, blood was pouring out again. The hole was wide open, as if wind could blow straight through it.
The cultivation world really made no sense.
If this happened in modern times, he’d already be dead and halfway to the crematorium.
“Lu Qizhi?”
Tian Luo called softly twice.
When he didn’t respond, she patted his pale face, white as a sheet of paper, and called again.
“Lu Qizhi? Qiqi? Zhizhi?”
The facts proved that the villain had truly fainted.
She didn’t understand the reason, but it was obviously true. After all, she’d already given him two nicknames and he hadn’t reacted.
Normally, he would definitely be furious, completely unable to tolerate it, and might even want to kill her.
Unfortunately, he had no chance to do that right now.
Tian Luo let out a long breath and plopped onto the ground in relaxation.
Thinking about it, this was actually her chance to run away.
After all, she’d already gotten the money, and she’d already obtained the Nine-Qilin Armor. There was no longer any reason to stay tangled up with the villain.
She had read books before where transmigrated heroines got involved with villains, saved them, and healed their wounded hearts.
But she was just a ginseng spirit.
She wasn’t qualified to be a heroine.
Nor did she possess any special abilities.
And she certainly didn’t have a system forcing her to do anything.
The villain was already powerful enough to overturn heaven and earth on his own.
She had no desire to become someone’s decorative accessory.
“We’ve crossed paths and neither of us owes the other anything. In that case, I wish you smooth sailing in everything. Let’s never meet again.”
Tian Luo clapped her hands, stood up, and prepared to go find her Senior Sister and the others.
Lu Qizhi lay on the ground like a corpse, completely motionless.
After figuring out the direction, Tian Luo started walking.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
Everything was fine for the first ten meters.
But the instant she tried to take the next step beyond that distance, her danger instincts suddenly exploded.
Her brows furrowed.
An inexplicable irritation and unease rose in her heart, but she couldn’t identify the source.
Ever since becoming a ten-thousand-year ginseng spirit, her intuition regarding danger had become exceptionally sharp.
Subconsciously, Tian Luo withdrew her foot.
She had a strong feeling that stepping beyond that point would trigger something terrible.
Unable to resist, she glanced back.
Lu Qizhi was still lying there without the slightest reaction.
As if he would never wake up again.
Tian Luo began analyzing the logic behind her instincts.
Then she suddenly realized something.
When she had freed Lu Qizhi from that cave, he could have left immediately and gone off to wreak havoc wherever he pleased.
But why had he stayed by her side?
Right.
Why?
He had even followed her into the pool.
And when she picked black mulberry leaves, he hadn’t left either.
The more she thought about it, the bigger the problem became.
Even though he technically owed her money, as a villain, he shouldn’t have been the sort of person who allowed himself to be restrained so easily.
And she had never truly dared to demand repayment.
At most, she’d reasoned with him and hoped he’d listen.
That was all.
Tian Luo felt there was definitely something she didn’t know.
After careful consideration, she wondered if there was something he wanted from her.
But that didn’t make sense either.
According to the book’s setting, eating her might directly allow someone to ascend.
He absolutely could have done that.
At best, she would have struggled three times before being eaten.
Yet he hadn’t done it.
Tian Luo couldn’t figure it out.
Still, she reached a conclusion.
Fine.
Maybe transmigrators were simply special.
Even if she was just a ginseng spirit.
For now, it was best to wait and see.
She stood there in silence for a long while before reluctantly turning back.
Squatting beside him, Tian Luo couldn’t help poking the villain’s face.
Then she suddenly glanced toward the ripple-like opening Lu Qizhi had created earlier.
It didn’t seem to have disappeared.
Her sense of danger immediately increased by another 99,999 points.
Tian Luo made a decisive judgment.
She absolutely had to get the villain away from here first.
Looking at the wound in his chest, she took out another clay jar filled with foot-soaking water from her storage pouch.
Supporting his head gently, she tried to feed it to him.
Unfortunately, his lips were tightly shut, like a clam shell.
No matter what she did, she couldn’t pry them open.
Tian Luo gave up.
There was no way she was going to do something like those melodramatic novels and feed it mouth-to-mouth.
Let’s be honest.
She couldn’t bring herself to drink her own foot-soaking water either.
Tian Luo still wanted the villain to wake up.
At the very least, he could fly her around.
After some thought, she pulled his clothes open slightly and slowly poured the foot-soaking water into the hole in his chest.
It actually worked.
The bloody wound stopped bleeding.
Then it gradually began healing.
Before long, the hole had closed completely.
Just like before, the skin remained bluish, as though only a thin layer of flesh covered empty space beneath.
“Lu Qizhi?”
Tian Luo called again.
There was still no response.
After calling seven or eight more times without success, she sighed.
Using considerable effort, she hauled him upright, crouched down, and carried him onto her back.
Heavy.
Heavy.
Heavy.
Heavy.
Heavy!
The villain didn’t look like he had much flesh on him.
Why was he so unbelievably heavy?
What had he been eating in that cave?
Pig feed?
When he woke up, she was definitely charging extra!
The time to leave the Bixi Secret Realm was almost here.
Nan Rong’s brows were tightly knitted.
Even now, Junior Sister Tian Luo and that senior hadn’t returned to the agreed meeting place.
Tian Yue stood against a tree with his sword in his arms.
As usual, his face was cold and expressionless.
Yet today, he was obviously somewhat restless, frequently glancing around.
Su Miantang pondered for two seconds and said,
“Could Little A-Luo be directionally challenged? She doesn’t look very smart.”
He said this with complete confidence in his own intelligence.
Nan Rong shot him a glare.
“Senior Brother Su! At a time like this you’re still joking? You know there are dangerous places in the Bixi Secret Realm!”
Su Miantang thought for another two seconds.
“Then that man in white must be useless.”
Tian Yue said nothing.
But he suddenly straightened up, clearly intending to go search for them.
However, after standing upright, he relaxed and leaned back again.
Nan Rong had wanted to refute Su Miantang but couldn’t find the words.
Then she looked up and saw a girl in a yellow dress struggling toward them with a man on her back.
Tian Luo really, truly, absolutely had to make the villain pay.
She officially declared that the entire spirit stone mine belonged completely to her now.
If he wanted to drink foot-soaking water again, he’d have to pay extra!
The past two days had exhausted her as thoroughly as forty-eight straight hours of nonstop manual labor!
“Junior Sister?”
Nan Rong called hesitantly.
Logically, it should be Tian Luo and that senior.
But Tian Luo normally dressed like a bear and wore a bear-head hat.
This girl, however, wore a flowing shark-silk dress.
And the man was slumped across her back with his face hidden.
There was no way to identify him.
“Senior Sister!!!”
Tian Luo raised her head.
Her large eyes instantly filled with tears.
Nan Rong froze for a moment when she met Tian Luo’s eyes, which seemed to sparkle with shattered starlight.
For some reason, the sight almost made her laugh.
Realizing that such a thought was inappropriate, she hurriedly shoved it out of her mind.
At last, Tian Luo was free.
As Su Miantang and Tian Yue removed Lu Qizhi from her small shoulders, she leaned against Nan Rong while munching on a spirit fruit her Senior Sister had given her.
Senior Sister said,
“We picked these earlier. Supposedly, eating one helps with Foundation Establishment.”
Tian Luo didn’t feel anything special.
To her, it just tasted like an ordinary fruit.
Though it was quite sweet.
“Thank you, Senior Sister. You’re so good to me.”
She affectionately leaned against Nan Rong and offered her another fruit.
“Senior Sister should eat one too.”
Nan Rong smiled.
“You’re the only one here who hasn’t reached Foundation Establishment yet. You’ll benefit the most.”
Tian Luo thought: Actually, Senior Sister, I don’t need it. My spiritual power is naturally overwhelming.
Seizing the opportunity, Su Miantang squeezed over.
“Junior Sister, if you can’t finish them, Senior Brother can help!”
Tian Luo immediately shoved his face away.
“Senior Sister saved these for me!”
Nan Rong asked,
“Is that senior alright?”
Tian Luo bit into the fruit with a crisp crunch.
“He should be fine.”
Nan Rong: …
Looking at the senior’s paper-white complexion, he really didn’t seem fine at all.
Junior Sister and the others must have encountered something dangerous.
If not for that kind-hearted senior, perhaps the one lying there now would have been Junior Sister instead.
Tian Luo had absolutely no idea about Nan Rong’s mental speculation.
By the time she finished the fruit, the secret realm exit had opened.
But the scene outside left everyone stunned.
Even the normally calm Tian Luo froze.
Outside the secret realm stood a group of high-level cultivators with stern and imposing expressions.
Every one of them looked extraordinary.
Wuyinzi was among them.
Standing in the central position was the most benevolent-looking one.
And in his hand…
A string of prayer beads.
Prayer beads?
Tian Luo’s heart skipped a beat.
Her expression immediately changed as if facing a great enemy.
She would never forget the description of the Void Refinement cultivator Guo Lin from the original novel.
He had a round, kindly face.
There was a mole beneath the right corner of his mouth.
Because he constantly smiled, gentle crow’s feet decorated the corners of his eyes.
Round nose.
Thick lips.
Protruding ears.
Slightly dark skin.
A ruthless and vicious man.
The Xingluo Sect cultivated killing arts.
The novel described their weapons as being similar to the famous Blood Drip torture weapon.
Yet someone who used such murderous tools insisted on wearing prayer beads around his wrist.
As though rolling them every day would somehow transform him into a compassionate Buddhist cultivator.
Tian Luo’s heartbeat accelerated.
Standing behind the crowd, she didn’t dare move.
The original novel’s descriptions had left a deep impression on her.
She couldn’t stop herself from feeling afraid.
Ever since transmigrating into the book, everything she had done was aimed at escaping her original fate.
But why was Guo Lin here at the Zixu Sword Sect?
Why was he waiting outside the Bixi Secret Realm?
She hadn’t even had time to learn swordsmanship and become stronger yet!
Had he discovered she was hiding in the Zixu Sword Sect?
But how could that be?
During these past two weeks—
Tian Luo’s mind raced.
Then she suddenly remembered something.
Huang Ren’s sword.
The sword that had cut her cheek.
She had overlooked it.
At the time, she’d been so focused on stopping the bleeding and concealing the scent of her blood that she’d forgotten to wipe the blood off the sword itself.
She had been too nervous.
Tian Luo didn’t know what to do.
Turning around, she looked at Lu Qizhi, who was being supported by Su Miantang and Tian Yue.
Then she took a step backward and leaned against him.
The villain and the cultivation world were natural enemies.
And the enemy of her enemy was absolutely her dearest friend.
Guo Lin’s gaze swept quickly across the dozens of disciples.
He didn’t see the round little female disciple wearing the bear-head hat.
A barely noticeable frown appeared between his brows.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t convenient to inspect every disciple carefully right now.
Wuyinzi smiled and stepped forward, subtly blocking Guo Lin’s line of sight.
Then he cheerfully said to the disciples,
“You all should have gained quite a bit from the Bixi Secret Realm. Go back and rest first.”
Nan Rong, Su Miantang, and Tian Yue were Wuyinzi’s direct disciples.
Hearing this, all three frowned.
First of all, their master was an extraordinarily lazy person.
For something as minor as disciples returning from a training secret realm, there was no way he’d personally wait outside.
Secondly, judging by the lineup of powerful cultivators gathered here, this definitely didn’t look like a situation where they would be allowed to peacefully return and rest.
Tian Luo thought the same thing.
Besides her own situation, something else must have happened.
Someone as sinister and cunning as Guo Lin definitely wouldn’t want the secret of her being a ten-thousand-year ginseng spirit exposed.
He only wanted to monopolize her.
So what else had happened?
Tian Luo frowned and slowly shifted her gaze toward the villain’s face.
Of course.
The only thing she could think of was what had happened two days ago—or rather, more than ten days ago.
She had accidentally broken the chains restraining the villain and released him.
“Wuyinzi, you’ve stood guard outside the Bixi Secret Realm day and night for half a month. Is that all you’re going to say to your disciples?”
The stick-thin man standing beside Guo Lin snorted and spoke.
So Wuyinzi had really been guarding the entrance for half a month?
Protecting them?
Wuyinzi picked his nose and replied casually,
“What can I do? When children travel far, their mother worries. As a master, I’m naturally concerned about my disciples.”
Guo Lin smiled outwardly, but inwardly sneered.
Half a month ago, when he arrived at the Bixi Secret Realm at dawn, the secret realm entrance had already been sealed.
Wuyinzi and the various peak masters of the Zixu Sword Sect were already present.
There had been no way to drag out that ten-thousand-year ginseng spirit.
Nor could he destroy the secret realm while Wuyinzi stood in his way.
Nan Rong and the others: ???
Was this really their lazybones master?
“All nineteen major spirit veins in the cultivation world have simultaneously withered. The barrier separating the Demon Realm has become unstable. Chaos is about to descend upon the world. Yet your Zixu Sword Sect still wishes to remain detached from it all?!
“Why don’t you tell your disciples that they’re already half a month late? They should have joined the cultivators of the world in searching for the source of the spirit veins half a month ago!
“There are also matters that aren’t suitable to discuss in front of these disciples, but surely you know what major events are occurring in the cultivation world right now!”
It was still the stick-thin man speaking.
Half his meaning was hidden behind implication.
Tian Luo frowned.
It seemed like the plot had advanced a little earlier than in the original story.
In the novel, she herself—the ten-thousand-year ginseng spirit—had only been a minor side event encountered by the male and female leads after they had already spent some time searching for the spirit source.
Wuyinzi simply smiled and ignored the topic.
Instead, he turned toward them.
“Why are you all still standing around? Follow your masters back to your respective peaks.”
Guo Lin’s expression almost cracked.
Wuyinzi wasn’t even planning to introduce him.
The Zixu Sword Sect had truly been separated from the Tianyan Sect for far too long!
He shot a glance toward Huang Qi.
Receiving the signal, Huang Qi immediately swept a cold gaze over the disciples.
“A disciple from a branch of the Huang family has died. Our investigation has determined that he was killed by an outer sect disciple of your Zixu Sword Sect.”
This was the first time Wuyinzi had heard of such a thing.
His brows furrowed slightly, though he still smiled.
“Outer sect disciples have low cultivation. At most they’re in Qi Refinement. How could one possibly kill a Huang family disciple? Old Huang, stop joking.”
“The outer sect disciple’s name is Tian Luo.”
Huang Qi sneered and spoke each word with force.
What?
Huang Ren was dead?
She had only beaten him up!
She definitely hadn’t killed him!
But whether he was dead wasn’t the important part right now.
They were targeting her.
Tian Luo’s already racing heart began pounding even faster.
At this point, she had practically hidden herself beneath the armpit of the unconscious Lu Qizhi.
Then she pinched.
Pinched.
Pinched.
Pinched.
The soft flesh at Lu Qizhi’s waist.
We’re dead!
Our common enemy has arrived!
Villain! Caveman! Lu Qizhi! Qiqi! Zhizhi! Big Boss, wake up!
I’m scared! I can’t handle this alone!
If you don’t wake up, I won’t protect your life! I’m serious!
I’m a bad person!
Tian Luo was so nervous that she failed to notice the flesh beneath her fingers suddenly tense.
Then a cool hand covered the one she had been waving around.